ICC Champions Trophy 2017 | Bangladesh bow down to India’s fast bowling prowess
BCCI
India produced an all-round performance to secure an impressive 240-run victory over Bangladesh at the Oval today. Dinesh Karthik (94 rt) played the starring role with the bat before Umesh Yadav (3/16) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s (3/13) virtuoso performance restricted Bangladesh to a mere 84/10.
Brief Scores: India 324/7 (Dinesh Karthik 94 rt, Pandya 80*, Rubel Hossain 3/50) beat Bangladesh 84/10 (Mehedi Hasan Miraz 24, Sunzamul Islam 18; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/13, Umesh Yadav 3/15) by 240 runs.
Winning the toss, Bangladesh’s interim skipper Shakib Al-Hasan decided to bowl first and with the overcast conditions on offer, his decision of chasing appeared to be the right decision. However, Virat Kohli claimed that he was looking to bat first so as to give his batsmen an opportunity to get accustomed to English conditions.
Dhawan and Karthik consolidate the Indian innings
India’s uncertainty with the top-order continued as both batsmen contending for the second opener slot, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, were dismissed without making an impact on the scoreboard. The former walked back to the pavilion with just 1 run in his first game since his return from injury while Rahane could only muster 11 as India seemed to be reeling at 24/2 after seven overs. However, Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik were in no mood to recreate a hilarious collapse much like the English suffered against South Africa yesterday as dug deep and saw off the new ball. The duo dealt mostly in singles before Dhawan came into his own with two boundaries in consecutive overs to bring up India’s hundred in the 21st over before bringing up his half-century in the 22nd over. Despite being taken to the cleaners by Dhawan, it was Sunzamul Islam who had the last laugh dismissing the opener for a well made 67-ball 60. Halfway through the first innings, India found themselves in the comfortable position of 132/3.
Pandya shows off his power hitting prowess
After Dhawan’s dismissal, Karthik decided to play the role of the enforcer and along with Kedar Jadhav began accelerating the innings during the middle overs taking the run rate to 5.60. By the time Islam got his second breakthrough in the shape of Kedar, India had managed to up the run rate to almost a run a ball. Karthik, however, kept going and was displaying the kind of form he had shown in the domestic season. The Indian wicketkeeper returned to the dressing room for 93 off 77 balls after declaring himself retired hurt. It was, then, a warm-up for the Indian lower middle-order in the truest sense as Ravindra Jadeja and Pandya started the innings again and once they got accustomed to the pace of the wicket, the duo decided to show off their power-hitting. With five overs to go, the scoreboard reflected India’s score to be at 270/5 and even though Jadeja was sent packing in the 48th over, Pandya, who scored an unbeaten 80 off 54 balls, ensured the defending Champions scored an incredible 54 off 30 balls to take the score to an impressive 324/7.
Umesh and Bhuvi add to Bangladesh’s misery
Overcast conditions, the pace and carry of the pitch, collaborated with the collective effort of the Indian pace battery proved to be a combination too lethal for the Bangladeshi batsmen. Bhuvneshwar Kumar in tandem with Umesh Yadav produced brilliant opening spells that the Bangladesh top order could provide no resistance against. The duo inflicted 6 wickets together with the likes of Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib-al Hasan, and Imrul Kayes falling one after the other in a span of 10 overs. Shami, too, joined the
