India vs Bangladesh in world cups have produced some heart-stopping matches over the years with a mixture of heartbreaks and ecstasy. The 2007 debacle, the 2015 no ball controversy and the nail-biting last over of 2016 have all been games that are etched in memories of millions.
India entered today’s game the more nervous of the two sides with questions being thrown at their opening batters and Shakib playing some wonderful mind games in the pre match press conference. There were calls to drop KL Rahul and bring the left-handed genius of Pant in but the team management backed the class of Rahul to come through and how he repaid that faith. After a watchful first over, KL Rahul showed the world his elegance, playing shots all over the ground, leaving everyone watching in awe. His cut shot for a six over point was a shot of a batter of immense class. Virat Kohli continued his rich vein of form, giving India the much needed impetus in the death overs despite only facing 8 balls in the last 3 overs. Suryakumar Yadav stepped onto the field and continued batting like a dream as Ashwin arrived on the crease and played some eye pleasing strokes, guiding India to a competitive total of 184.
Bangladesh certainly looked pumped from the start of the game and did seem well in control before the Rahul burst and would have certainly walked back at the halfway stage thinking they were 15-20 runs above par. India would’ve believed that they had a decent score on board and rightly so, as this is only the third time a team has posted a total above 180. Liton Das was promoted to the opening slot and it proved to be a masterstroke as the batter played some audacious strokes and raced his way to half century that will be remembered for a very long time. The score after the powerplay read 60/0 and Liton Das was batting at 56 at that moment, with the Indian camp looking shellshocked with the onslaught.
While there was rain predicted during the day, the ground staff was certainly caught by surprise as it showered down at the Adelaide Oval. Players were taken off the field and Bangladesh were ahead of the DLS par score by 17 runs, a figure that brought back dreadful memories of 2007. The rain persisted for a while but eventually made way for play resume with Bangladesh needing 151 in 16 overs. Shakib and his men did not seem to happy about the rush to resume play and raised safety concerned but umpires had made a decision.
Bangladesh walked back onto the field more confident of the two sides but a brilliant throw from KL Rahul in the deep saw Liton Das walking back to the pavilion and the Bangladesh chase really hit a block. The Indian bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals but it all boiled down to the last ball, where 7 runs were needed but India’s new death bowler arsenal; Arshdeep Singh, closed out a well deserved and achieved victory for team India.
With a win today, India have all but assured themselves of a spot in the top 2 unless the cricketing gods decide to be unkind.