India put Tigers in their place

Rohit Sharma rises to the occasion with a ton as defending champs post their seventh straight victory

Bangladesh’s dream run ended in a nightmare as India handed them a crushing defeat to storm into the World Cup semifinals.

Bangladesh did appear to give India a hard time when they choked the defending champions for runs between overs number 11 and 30. However, a high-class hundred by man of the match Rohit Sharma (137, 126b, 14x4, 3x6), a swashbuckling knock from Suresh Raina (65, 57b, 7x4, 1x6) and a pathetic display of fielding by Bangladesh combined to guide India to their third 300-plus total – 303/6 – of the tournament.

Bangladesh, after a promising start from Tamim Iqbal, slipped into an all too familiar ditch -- from 33/0 in the seventh over they were reduced to 104/5 by the 29th over and after that there was no fight left in their tank. Their innings eventually folded at 193 in 45 overs after some late-order resistance as India registered a comprehensive 109-win here at the MCG in front of over 51,000 fans.

The Indian attack once again covered itself in all glory and splendour, bowling out their opposition for the seventh time in a row. A fast and hostile Umesh Yadav led the charge with figures of 4/31. This is the sixth time that India have made the last four stage of the World Cup and they have been victors in three of the previous five occasions. That this was MS Dhoni’s 100th ODI win as captain was a perfect icing on the cake.

Earlier, Bangladesh had created a golden opportunity to wrest control in the backend of India’s innings but umpire Alim Dar’s harsh decision to no-ball Rubel Hossain’s delivery for being above waist hurt them badly. Rohit appeared to have connected the ball at a permissible height but the batsman taking out his right-hand in an evasive action tricked the umpire into believing that the ball was a beamer. Rohit was on 90 off 103 then and India 183/3 off 38.1 overs.

The reprieve proved costly for Bangladesh as Rohit gathered his next 47 runs in a matter of 23 balls even as Dhoni struggled to force the pace in his brief stint. Ravindra Jadeja, however, made up for that shortcoming with a flurry of boundaries in his 10-ball cameo (23, 4x4) that helped India cross the 300-mark, a distant possibility half-way through India’s innings when they were 99 off 25 overs.

India got off to a bright start with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit collecting 51 runs in restrained aggression. Post the mandatory power play though, Dhawan went into extreme caution and that brought about his downfall. Having scored 22 off 29 in the first 10 overs, the southpaw dawdled to 30 off 49 before he lost his composure and wicket. Virat Kohli lasted all of eight balls as he wafted at an away going delivery off Rubel for Mushfiqur Rahim to complete a simple catch. Rubel then sent off Kohli giving him a mouthful which was as unnecessary as Kohli’s shot.  

Two wickets in two overs and Bangladesh were all over India who had opted to bat first. They set defensive fields and bowled accordingly, constricting the flow of runs. Ajinkya Rahane couldn’t get any momentum and was out miscuing a big shot, a direct result of a series of dot balls. At this stage, India were 115/3 from 27 overs and few could have backed them to add another 188 runs in 23 overs on a slow surface. The arrival of Raina, however, changed the course of the innings.

Fresh from a match-winning century against Zimbabwe a few days ago, Raina tuned into aggressive mode almost immediately, taking the pressure off Rohit. It wasn’t all mindless slogging though. The left-hander ran as many as 25 singles interspersing them with boundaries that transformed the pressure on to the Bangla bowlers.

Rohit and Raina’s approach to batting power play, which was briefly interrupted by afternoon showers, was the most fascinating aspect of their partnership. Only six fours and a six were scored during this period and yet India ended up plundering 50 runs of those five overs.

They picked up a boundary and made it a point to take at least a single off each delivery which saw India bring up 200 by the 40th over. The partnership – 122 off 96 balls – ended with Raina’s dismissal but there was no respite for the Bangladesh attack as Rohit went into overdrive, essaying one attractive stroke after another as the final 10 overs bled 98 runs.


Score board

INDIA

Rohit b Taskin    137
(126b, 14x4, 3x6)
Dhawan st Mushfiqur b Shakib    30
(50b, 3x4)
Kohli c Mushfiqur b R Hossain    3
(8b)
Rahane c Shakib b Taskin    19
(37b, 1x4)
Raina c Mushfiqur b Mortaza    65
(57b, 7x4, 1x6)
Dhoni c N Hossain b Taskin    6
(11b)
Jadeja (not out)    23
(10b, 4x4)
Ashwin (not out)    3
(3b)
Extras (B-4, LB-7, W-3, NB-2)    16
Total (for 6 wkts, 50 overs)    302
Fall of wickets: 1-75 (Dhawan), 2-79 (Kohli), 3-115 (Rahane), 4-237 (Raina), 5-273 (Rohit), 6-296 (Dhoni).
Bowling: Mortaza 10-0-69-1 (nb-1), Taskin 10-0-69-3 (w-1), N Hossain 9-0-35-0 (w-1), Mahmudullah 1-0-4-0, R Hossain 10-0-56-1 (nb-1, w-1), Shakib 10-0-58-1.

BANGLADESH

Tamim c Dhoni b Yadav    25
(25b, 4x4)
Kayes (run out)    5
(14b)
Sarkar c Dhoni b Shami    29
(43b, 3x4, 1x6)
Mahmudullah c Dhawan b Shami    21
(31b, 2x4)
Shakib c Shami b Jadeja    10
(34b)
Mushfiqur c Dhoni b Yadav    27
(43b, 2x4)
S Rahman c Shami b Yadav    30
(40b, 2x4)
N Hossain c Ashwin b Jadeja    35
(34b, 6x4)
Mortaza c Dhoni b Mohit    1
(3b)
R Hossain c Ashwin b Yadav    0
(3b)
Taskin (not out)    0
(0b)
Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-8)    10
Total (all out, 45 overs)    193

Fall of wickets: 1-33 (Tamim), 2-33 (Kayes), 3-73 (Mahmudullah), 4-90 (Sarkar), 5-104 (Shakib), 6-139 (Mushfiqur), 7-189 (N Hossain), 8-192 (Mortaza), 9-193 (N Hossain).
Bowling: Umesh Yadav 9-1-31-4 (w-1), Mohd Shami 8-1-37-2 (w-4), Mohit Sharma 7-0-36-1 (w-1), R Ashwin 10-1-30-0 (w-1), Suresh Raina 3-1-15-0, R Jadeja 8-0-42-2 (w-1).