ADELAIDE: Indian bowlers held their nerves calm to keep momentum-filled Bangladesh at bay and successfully defended the revised 151-run target to power their side to a much-needed victory in the rain-affected Super 12s fixture of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Bangladesh opener Litton Das provided a flying start to his side in the run chase with his quickfire fifty.
Das’ fifty powered Bangladesh to 66/0 in seven overs when rain intervened and the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method revealed that the side was 17 runs ahead of the par score.
Luckily for India, the rain stopped and allowed the action to resume with the second innings reduced to 16 overs and the target was revised to 151.
The resumption of the action turned out to be lethal for Bangladesh as the side lost their key batter Das with just two deliveries into the eighth over.
He remained the top-scorer for Bangladesh with a quickfire 60 off 27 deliveries, laced with seven boundaries and three sixes.
Das’ dismissal triggered a frustrating collapse for Bangladesh as their batting lineup slipped to 108/6 in the 13th over with their captain Shakib Al Hasan also falling cheaply after scoring just 13.
Bangladesh wicketkeeper batter Nurul Hasan and tailender Taskin Ahmed put on an astounding partnership for the seventh wicket and kept Indian bowlers on their toes.
The duo, however, remained unable to power their side to glory and fell just five runs short as Bangladesh could get to 145/6 in 16 overs.
Nurul remained unbeaten with his gritty 25 off 14, while Taskin could score 12 not out.
Arshdeep Singh – who held his nerves calm to successfully defend 20 runs in the final over – and Hardik Pandya bagged two wickets each, while Mohammed Shami made one scalp.
India, batting first on the invitation of Bangladesh captain Shakib, posted a mammoth 184/6 at the back of Kohli and Rahul’s brilliance.
The men in blue had a dismal start to their innings as they lost their skipper Rohit Sharma (2) with just 11 runs on the board in the fourth over.
Following the horrific start, Kohli and Rahul stood up for the team and anchored the innings with a valiant 67-run partnership for the second wicket.
The second wicket stand proved vital for India as the duo added 67 runs in just six overs before the core aggressor Rahul fell to top-ranked T20I all-rounder Shakib.
The right-handed batter ended his poor form with a brilliant 50 off just 32 deliveries with the help of three boundaries and four sixes.
The new top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav then joined Kohli in the middle and added 38 runs for the third wicket.
Yadav dominated the quickfire stand with a brilliant cameo of 30 before Shakib castled him in the 15th over. He faced just 16 deliveries and smashed four boundaries.
Kohli, however, remained firm at the crease and stitched brief partnerships with Hardik Pandya (5), Dinesh Karthik (7) and Axar Patel (7) and took his side past the 150-run mark in 18 overs.
All-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin chipped in with a quickfire 13 off six at the death and put on an unbeaten 27-run partnership with Kohli in just nine deliveries.
Kohli remained the top scorer for India with 64 not out off 44 balls, laced with eight boundaries and a six.
Hasan Mahmud led the bowling attack for Bangladesh with 3/47, while skipper Shakib bagged two wickets.
