Bangladesh Left in Awe of Team India’s Commanding Win
Credit – Mint
The Indian team, who are considered the favorites for this T20 World Cup, proved too strong for Bangladesh.
On Saturday, when both Asian rivals met at St. Lucia in the Super 8 stage, India defeated Bangladesh by 50 runs.
After winning the toss, Bangladesh opted to bowl first, a decision that turned out to be surprising given the conditions. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli came out with a clear mindset to attack from the first ball and dominate Bangladesh straight away. Rohit scored a quick 23 off 10 balls, helping India reach 53 in the powerplay. Following the powerplay, all the batters contributed significantly to the total. Virat Kohli found form, scoring 37 and hitting three big sixes. Rishabh Pant continued his aggressive style, scoring 36, while Shivam Dube looked in good touch, adding 34. However, it was Hardik Pandya who was the star of the innings. Coming in to bat in the 12th over after Pant’s dismissal, Hardik played in his usual aggressive style, taking the game deep and scoring an unbeaten 50 off 27 balls. His efforts helped the Indian team reach a solid score of 196, which was well above the average total of 161 and was always going to be a challenging target for Bangladesh.
Credit – Sportstar
Bangladesh openers Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan started well and were looking solid in the powerplay until Litton Das was dismissed by Hardik in the 5th over, leaving Bangladesh at 35-1. After Hardik’s breakthrough, Bangladeshi batters struggled against the mystery deliveries of Kuldeep Yadav. They never looked comfortable facing him, as he conceded just 19 runs in his quota of 4 overs while picking up 3 wickets. Jasprit Bumrah was once again unplayable, bowling an economical spell by giving away only 13 runs and taking 2 wickets. Bangladeshi skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto scored a fighting 40, but Bangladesh could only manage 146, losing the game by 50 runs. India has defeated Bangladesh in all five meetings of the T20 World Cup.
With this win, India has qualified for the semi-finals. However, before the semi-finals, they will face Australia in the final league match of the Super 8 stage. India has been unbeaten so far, while this match is a do-or-die for Australia, as they lost their previous match against Afghanistan. Australia needs to win this game and also hope their net run rate remains better than Afghanistan’s, which will play a virtual quarter-final against Bangladesh in their final league match.
This will also be the first meeting between these teams since the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. India will play Australia on June 24 in St. Lucia. The Indian team is in tremendous form, with all their players performing well. They surely have a chance to beat Australia, knock them out of this T20 World Cup, and take revenge.
