Home
India have one leg in theT20 World Cup 2022 semi-final after a thrilling five-run win over Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval in a rain-curtailed game. Arshdeep held his nerves in the final over and defended 20 runs despite a couple of boundaries off Nurul Hasan’s bat.
In Bangladesh's run chase, Litton Das looked like a man on a mission. Das was timing the ball sweetly and attacking India's new-ball bowlers. The half chance dropped by Dinesh Karthik in the third over only made matters worse for India. On the other hand, Najmul Hossain Shanto was struggling to rotate strike. Das made the last powerplay over count by hitting Mohammed Shami for two fours and a six. Das also got to his half-century from just 21 deliveries. Bangladesh had 60 runs on the board after powerplay overs.
Axar Patel was introduced into the attack and kept a lid on boundaries. Bangladesh had 66 runs on the board after seven overs. Rain played spoilsport at Adelaide Oval. Bangladesh were 17 runs ahead of the Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) par score. Had rain not stopped, Bangladesh would have been declared winners. But rain stopped and the revised target from 16 overs was 151. Bangladesh needed 85 runs from nine more overs.
The rain break did not help Bangladesh. Das got run out trying to sneak an extra run. He slipped midway as well and KL Rahul pulled off a direct hit to find him short of the crease. He scored 60 runs from 27 deliveries including seven fours and three sixes. After losing his opening partner, Shanto hit a four and a six to make up for the dot deliveries. Shami (21) got rid of the opener in the ninth over. Shakib kept the required run rate within reach with two consecutive boundaries off Ravichandran Ashwin. Arshdeep was brought back into the attack and he delivered with the wickets of Afif Hossain (3) and Shakib (13) in the 12th over.
Pandya struck twice in his over as well. Yasir Ali (1) and Mosaddek Hossain (6) got dismissed trying to take the aerial route. In the final two overs, Bangladesh needed 31 runs. Taskin Ahmed hit a four and a six to keep India pressure but Pandya finished well with two dot deliveries.
Bangladesh needed 20 runs off the final over. Taskin took a single off the first ball. Arshdeep came round the wicket against Nurul Hasan and he hit a six off the short ball. Arshdeep came back well to bowl a yorker. He bowled full and straight again and Nurul took a couple of runs. The left-arm pacer another full delivery but Nurul played it square of the wicket off the penultimate delivery. With seven runs needed off the final ball, Arshdeep held his nerves and let Nurul manage just a single as Bangladesh lost the game by five runs by DLS method.
Earlier, Shakib decided to field first because of rain forecast. Indian openers started off slowly and skipper Rohit (2) got dismissed by Hasan Mahmud. The young Bangladesh pacer had dropped Rohit's catch in the previous over. Rahul and Virat Kohli could not utilise the fielding restrictions as India had 37 runs after six overs.
Rahul broke free in the ninth over. Shoriful Islam overstepped and was hit for a six off consecutive deliveries. Shoriful conceded 24 runs from the over which turned the momentum in India's favour. In the next over, Rahul got to his first half-century of the tournament. However, the opener could not carry on and got dismissed by Shakib. He scored 50 runs from 32 deliveries including three fours and four sixes.
Suryakumar Yadav attacked from ball one with Kohli playing second fiddle. Suryakumar played a crucial cameo in the middle overs scoring 30 runs from 16 deliveries including four fours. Once again, Shakib got the breakthrough. With slog overs approaching, Kohli started accelerating. Mahmud returned to attack and got the big wicket of Pandya (5) in the sixth over. Meanwhile, Kohli and Shakib were involved in a heated exchange over the former signalling no ball.
Dinesh Karthik walked out with intent. In the 17th over, Kohli got to his half-century from 37 deliveries. But Karthik got run out after miscommunication with Kohli after scoring just seven runs from five deliveries. In the penultimate over, Axar (7) got out but Kohli made up for it with a four and six off the final two deliveries. In the final over, Ashwin wanted to take a single off the first ball but missed. Ashwin took the aerial route and hit Islam for a huge six followed by a boundary. 14 runs came off the final over as India posted 184/6.
