India make the semi-final after beating Bangladesh by 28-run
ICC World Cup Men’s Cricket at Edgbaston, Birmingham
Bangladesh Vs India
India 314-9 ( 50 ov) Rahul 77 off 92, 6 fours, 1 six, Rohit Sharma 104 off i2, 7 fours, 5 sixes, Pant 48 iff 41 6 fours, 1 six, Dhoni 35 off 33, 4 fours, Mustafizur 5-59, Shabib 1-41, Rubel 1-48, Soumya 1-33.
Bangladesh 286 ao (48 ov) Soumya 33 off 38, 4 fours, Shakib 66 off 74, 6 fours, Sabbir 36 off 36, 5 fours, Saifuddin 51off 38, 9 fours, B Kumar 1-51, Bumrah 4-55, shami 1-68, Chahal 1-50, H Pandya 3-60.
India qualify their place in the World Cup semi-finals with a 28-run win over spirited Bangladesh who were eliminated.
Rohit Sharma 104, KL Rahul 77, hit the highest opening partnership of the tournament 180, to post 314 for 9. Rohit Sharma has become the second cricketer to smash four hundreds in a World Cup. The 32-year-old scored 122*, 140 and 102 against South Africa, Pakistan and England respectively earlier in 2019 World Cup reached the 104 against Bangladesh in 90 balls. Ex- Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara had achieved the feat in 2015.
Bangladesh needed to win their final two games to have any chance of progressing to first semi-final, despite half century by Shakib al Hasan they fell short.
India has 13 points from 8 games with six wins.
India returned to the top of OSDI ratings above England last week and are proven world-class players.
Although the openers gave an outstanding start, their middle order collapsed as captain Virat Kohli 26 and Rishabh Pant 48 failed to convert, on as 162-0 at halfway became 314-9 at the end.
Rohit was given a life on nine when Tamim Iqbal dropped him at the opener ensured Bangladesh pay dearly for this mistake by smashing five sixes as he and Rahul clocked up the seventh-best opening stand in World Cup history.
Tamim was determined to make up for his costly drop looked in great form smacking three fours in the first three overs but India had already put the brakes on in the 10th over. Shakib went past 50 for the sixth time but he succumbed to Hardik Pandya by chipping a slower ball to Dinesh Karthik for 66.
Although a seventh-wicket partnership of 66 between Sabbir Rahman and Mohammad Saifuddin raised some hope but lack of big hitting proved their downfall.
Indian captain Virat Kohli said “ Bangladesh played some really good cricket and deserve credit for the fight they put up. We had to work hard for the win and we are happy to see a Q in front of our name now. I have been watching Rohit for years now, he is the best ODI player around. He is a joy to watch and is having the tournament of his life”.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said, “ It was a good effort – Mustafizur bowled well – but if one of the batsmen could have got to 80b or 90, it might have been different. We were asking too much in the end. A bit of luck didn’t go our way either.”