Following Shubman Gill’s anchoring century, Mohammed Shami’s five-wicket haul drove India to a comfortable six-wicket triumph against Bangladesh in the second match of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Pursuing a modest 229-run goal, the previous champions easily hit the winning runs for four wickets and 21 balls left.
With skipper Rohit Sharma and Gill laying a strong basis with a 69-run stand that resulted in the former’s departure on the final delivery of the batting powerplay, India had a promising start to the chase. Seven boundaries let Sharma score 41 off 36 deliveries. Gill then teamed up for a 43-run stand for the second wicket with Virat Kohli, who scored 22 off 38 deliveries.
India then lost two more wickets rapidly after which it dropped to 144/4 in 30.1 overs. Wicketkeeper Rahul joined Gill in the middle and anchored the run chase following consecutive blows.
To help their team across the line, the pair put up an undefeated 87-run collaboration. With an undefeated 101 from 129 deliveries, Shubman Gill top-scored for India, blasting nine fours and two sixes; Rahul produced a 47-ball 41.
With two wickets, Rishad Hossain was Bangladesh’s best bowler; Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman each picked one scalp.
Thus, the decision of Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto to bat first seemed to have backfired as Indian bowlers went through their top order and dropped them to 35/5 in 8.3 overs. Jaker joined Hridoy in the middle following the slump, and the pair bats sensibly to start recovering.
Jaker and Hridoy
Having got Bangladesh into the hunt, Jaker and Hridoy were beginning to return the assault to the Indian spinners by regularly hitting boundaries. Eventually, Mohammed Shami got rid of Jaker in the 43rd over, therefore breaking the menacing 151-run stand.
Four boundaries let Jaker score 68 off 114 deliveries. Bangladesh lost two more wickets in short succession following his dismissal, but Towhid Hridoy battled through the cramps and scored a courageous century, therefore standing his ground strong. A brief lower-order collapse was triggered.
Comprising six fours and two sixes, he stayed Bangladesh’s leading scorer with 100 off 118 deliveries. With outstanding bowling stats of 5/53 in his 10 overs, Shami was India’s best bowler; Harshit Rana with three wickets followed, and Axar Patel snagged two.
PLAYING XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.
