Chris Stocks' match report
And with that, I’m off. Here’s some England-related reading. Bye!
Bangladesh have had an excellent World Cup, without quite getting the results to reflect their performances. It’s not over yet, though: Friday’s match against Pakistan could still be meaningful, depending on what happens tomorrow, and I feel it might be a cracker.
Virat Kohli is pleased:
Bangladesh has played some really good cricket in the tournament, and deserve a lot of credit for the fight that they put up. We had to work hard for the win, and we’re very happy to see a Q in front of the team’s name in the table now. Very happy that we’ve qualified with a game to spare.
Here are the latest standings. Two semi-final spots remain unclaimed, with Pakistan, England and New Zealand still in the hunt. England have to beat New Zealand tomorrow, or hope that Pakistan fail to beat Bangladesh on Friday. New Zealand are through already, unless something very odd happens to their net run rate.
The cricket’s over for another day, but there’s still crikcet-based fun to be had. For example, there’s this:
Rohit Sharma is named man of the match, for his 92-ball 104.
I had a great feeling right at the start. Obviously the pitch was good to bat on. Batting first, obviously there’s no scoreboard pressure. You come out thinking you want to be positive, and that’s what I was trying to do. Of course I was lucky. Fortune favours the brave, I guess.
India win by 28 runs
India qualify for the semi-finals; Bangladesh are eliminated
And that is very much that. Bangladesh gave it a damn fine go, but India just had a little bit too much class.
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WICKET! Mustafizur Rahman b Bumrah 0 (Bangladesh 286 all out)
The Fizz falls flat as Bumrah hits off stump with another pinpoint yorker!
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WICKET! Rubel b Bumrah 9 (Bangladesh 285-9)
Bumrah whips out the yorker, and with a Rubel yell Bangladesh lose their ninth wicket!
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47th over: Bangladesh 279-8 (Saifuddin 45, Rubel 8) Saifuddin gets four in return for a fine shot, flicked round the corner to long leg. It’s otherwise an excellent over from Shami, which concludes with Bangladesh needing 36 from 18 balls at precisely two apiece.
46th over: Bangladesh 272-8 (Saifuddin 40, Rubel 7) Lovely shot from Rubel, who hammers the ball back past Bumrah and holds his pose at the end of the followthrough as if posing for a portrait. And a very handsome one it would be too. He swings at the next, and top-edges it towards deep cover, where the fielder misjudges its flight and thus fails to reach it before it falls. Bangladesh are just refusing to give up on this, and now need 43 from four overs.
Bangladesh are heading out of the World Cup here, but they're going out with fight, aggression, and serious competitive spirit. The rate is climbing, but they just keep playing their shots, keep attacking, keep trying to put pressure on the bowlers. It's glorious. #CWC19
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) July 2, 2019
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45th over: Bangladesh 264-8 (Saifuddin 38, Rubel 1) Mortaza attacks Bhuvi’s first ball, which goes high and long, and just clears both the fielder running round from long-on and the boundary! Briefly, hope is rekindled in Bangladeshi hearts. He’s out next ball.
WICKET! Mortaza c Dhoni b Kumar 8 (Bangladesh 257-8)
Mortaza nicks it, Dhoni pouches, and that’s another one down!
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44th over: Bangladesh 251-7 (Saifuddin 33, Mortaza 2) Mashrafe Mortaza is welcomed with an excellent yorker, which he does well to survive. The required run rate is now above 10 an over.
WICKET! Sabbir Rahman b Bumrah 36 (Bangladesh 245-7)
Bumrah’s back, and he strikes with his first ball! It’s slow, full, misses the swinging bat and clips the outside of leg stump!
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43rd over: Bangladesh 243-6 (Sabbir 35, Saifuddin 30) Two singles, two wides and a lot of variation from Bhuvi, whose line, length and pace are all over the place. He thus gets away with a last-ball full toss, from which Sabbir can get only a single.
42nd over: Bangladesh 240-6 (Sabbir 33, Saifuddin 29) While it was tempting to declare them doomed the moment Shakib was dismissed, Bangladesh refuse to lose touch completely. They need a couple of boundaries from every over, and Saifuddin gets them here, off Shami. 11 off the over, and they need 9.4 from here on in. The bad news is that Bhuvi Kumar and Bumrah still have three overs each.
41st over: Bangladesh 229-6 (Sabbir 32, Saifuddin 20) Sabbir swings his bat so hard at Chahal’s delivery that when he makes no contact he loses balance completely and falls over. Three singles and a wide from the over, and that’s Chahal done for the day. Bangladesh need 9.55 an over.
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40th over: Bangladesh 225-6 (Sabbir 30, Shaifuddin 19) Shaifuddin sends the first ball of Pandya’s final over thudding past square leg for four, but then he’s nearly out next ball after going for a sharp/desperate single, which the bowler fields. He spins and shies at the stumps, but misses!
39th over: Bangladesh 219-6 (Sabbir 29, Saifuddin 14) The good news for India is that Bumrah’s back on the field. The bad news is that he wasn’t in the right place to pounch Saifuddin’s sweep, which looped over his head, dropped just out of reach and ran away. Sabbir then flicks Chahal’s last ball through midwicket for four. They’re within 100 runs of their target now. How close can they get?
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38th over: Bangladesh 208-6 (Sabbir 24, Saifuddin 9) That’s more like it! Mohammed Shami returns, and Sabbir spanks his first ball perfectly between mid-on and midwicket for four and plays the next fine for four more. A single later, Shaifuddin advances and pummels past mid-on for another boundary, and then he lifts the last over midwicket for a fourth! Seventeen off the over, and that brings the required run rate back below nine.
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37th over: Bangladesh 191-6 (Sabbir 15, Shaifuddin 1) Bangladesh will be out if/when they lose this. There is no obvious reason why at this stage they shouldn’t just fling their bat and hope for the best. Instead Chahal bowls, they get a single from the first, and they settle for that. They need more than 9.5 an over now.
36th over: Bangladesh 190-6 (Sabbir 14, Shaifuddin 1) Sabbir cuffs the ball to long leg, where Bumrah runs round to cut it off, stoops, stumbles, picks it up, flings it away and falls. He stays down for a while as the physio sprints to treat him, but he’s soon back on his feet and apparently untroubled. Still, he leaves the field for further prodding and poking.
35th over: Bangladesh 182-6 (Sabbir 7, Shaifuddin 1) Bumrah’s seventh over brings three singles, and the required run rate is very nearly nine.
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34th over: Bangladesh 177-6 (Shabbir 4, Shaifuddin 0) Pandya was supposed to be the weakest of India’s five bowlers, but that’s his third wicket, and his last couple of overs have been superb. What had become an unlikely target for Bangladesh now looks very distant indeed
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WICKET! Shakib Al Hasan c Karthik b Pandya 66 (Bangladesh 179-6)
Shakib’s gone! Again Pandya’s variations of pace bear fruit, with Shakib mistiming the ball to midwicket!
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33rd over: Bangladesh 177-5 (Shakib 65, Shabbir 4) Sabbir Rahman edges his first ball for four. The required run rate ticks past eight for the first time, and Bangladesh are running out of batsmen, but where there’s Shakib there’s hope, I suppose.
A classic slower ball dismissal for Bumrah. His previous ball was 140kph - the wicket ball was 118kph. Such a difficult bowler to face. #CWC19
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) July 2, 2019
WICKET! Mosaddek b Bumrah 3 (Bangladesh 173-5)
This time a slow ball yields a wicket! Bumrah’s offcutter clips the inside edge and ricochets into the stumps!
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32nd over: Bangladesh 169-4 (Shakib 64, Mosaddek 3) Good bowling this from Pandya, whose variations of pace confuse and frustrate the batsmen. There are many wild swings, few genuine connections, three singles and a last-ball bottom-edge from Mosaddek that doesn’t carry to Dhoni.
31st over: Bangladesh 169-4 (Shakib 62, Mosaddek 2) Bangladesh’s hopes surely hinge on the survival of Shakib, and India bring back Bumrah in an attempt to remove him. No joy, though there’s a lovely slow, wide yorker that does befuddle the batsman, and also a four played fine to third man. “The answer to your question about why umpires need to have a run-out checked by TV is simple: showbiz,” says John Starbuck.
30th over: Bangladesh 163-4 (Shakib 57, Mosaddek 1) Six runs! Das lazily hammers the ball over long-on for the first maximum of the innings, with the insouciance of someone picking a stray piece of corn from between his teeth! Then, two balls later, he’s gone.
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WICKET! Liton Das c Karthik b Pandya 22 (Bangladesh 162-4)
That’s a big wicket! Pandya’s bouncer cramps Das, whose pull loops into the hands of Karthik at midwicket!
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29th over: Bangladesh 156-3 (Shakib 57, Das 16) It happens again. This time Kohli throws the ball into the stumps from short range and sets off in celebration, even though he could have had no idea where exactly Shakib, diving behind him and manifestly in, might have been. Marais Erasmus should have known, but he refers up to the overworked Aleem Dar, who doesn’t take long over the decision. Nine off Bhuvi Kumar’s seventh over, and the run rate remains around 7.5.
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28th over: Bangladesh 147-3 (Shakib 50, Das 14) I’m not sure how umpires regularly spot tiny nicks, accurately predict the ball’s path, spot when a ball pitches outside the line of leg stump even when nobody else can, yet when there’s an appeal for a run-out they always - always - need the TV umpire’s assistance. Das is obviously in here, even if he had to dive to be sure, and it’s eventually confirmed. Then Shakib hits to cover, where Karthik misjudges the bounce and lets it through to the boundary.
27th over: Bangladesh 139-3 (Shakib 43, Das 13) Bhuvi Kumar returns. They take a single to extra cover and Das would probably have gone had Bumrah, the fielder, scored a direct hit; instead he misses, nobody’s backing up and Bangladesh get a bonus second. Plus the ball is then misfielded, so had they been on their toes they could have got a third.
26th over: Bangladesh 133-3 (Shakib 43, Das 7) Das works the ball to deep square leg, where Rahul makes a fine stop on the rope to save a couple.
25th over: Bangladesh 127-3 (Shakib 42, Das 3) I’ve got to admit, I spend most of this over copying down Das’s recent scores. Fortunately there were only two singles scored. We’ll just pretend it never happened. Anyway, halfway through, and Bangladesh need to go large.
24th over: Bangladesh 125-3 (Shakib 41, Das 2) Liton Das has been extraordinarily inconsistent with the bat. Before this tournament there had only been three occasions when he had got consecutive double-digit scores. His last 20 ODI innings before today were: 6, 0, 6, 7, 41, 6, 121, 4, 83, 0, 41, 8, 23, 1, 1, 1, 76 and then his unprecedented run of scores in this tournament: 94*, 20, 16.
WICKET! Mushfiqur Rahim c Shami b Chahal 24 (Bangladesh 121-3)
Mushfiqur is sent packing! His slog-sweep flies to the fielder at square leg, and the partnership is broken!
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22nd over: Bangladesh 116-2 (Shakib 38, Mushfiqur 20) Pandya’s first ball is pummelled past point, and the rest all yield singles. The game could be decided in the next 10 overs, as this pair either get motoring, or get on their bike.
21st over: Bangladesh 107-2 (Shakib 31, Mushfiqur 18) Chahal’s half-way through his allocation now. Just two singles off his fifth over, a setback after Bangladesh had started to bring the run rate down - it was very briefly below seven a couple of overs back.
20th over: Bangladesh 104-2 (Shakib 29, Mushfiqur 17) Every bowler is going between five and six, except for Kumar’s 3.60. Pandya bowls this one, and three singles and a couple are scored.
19th over: Bangladesh 98-2 (Shakib 25, Mushfiqur 15) Successive boundaries for Mushfiqur, who flicks one down the leg side and then hammers the next over midwicket.
18th over: Bangladesh 88-2 (Shakib 24, Mushfiqur 6) Shakib, who’s having a ridiculous tournament with the bat, dabs the ball fine for four. Nine off the over, but they need more than seven from here on in. India were 105 without loss at this point.
17th over: Bangladesh 79-2 (Shakib 18, Mushfiqur 3) Chahal bowls to Shakib, and it comes off his gloves, nutmegs Dhoni and rolls away for one.
16th over: Bangladesh 75-2 (Shakib 16, Mushfiqur 1) A wide, a wicket and a run from the over. And here’s a stat about Soumya attacking wide deliveries; he certainly attacked his last one.
India really have refused to give Soumya Sarkar width with any great regularity - but when they have, Soumya has looked to punish it. Of the nine widest balls he's faced, he's attacked seven of them. He's only attacked one straighter delivery. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/o2P1kQVeKl
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) July 2, 2019
WICKET! Soumya c Kohli b Pandya 33 (Bangladesh 74-2)
Pandya bowls short and wide; Soumya licks his lips, swings his bat, and smacks it straight to extra cover, where Kohli does’t have to move!
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15th over: Bangladesh 71-1 (Soumya 33, Shakib 16) Chahal bowls, and the batsmen take a single. As the ball is thrown back to the bowler from the field he overbalances, and headbuts Shakib’s bat. He rises, winces, rubs his jaw and gets on with it.
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14th over: Bangladesh 69-1 (Soumya 31, Shakib 14) Shami’s back, and Soumya honks the first ball down the ground for four, and hoiks the last over cover for four more!
13th over: Bangladesh 59-1 (Soumya 22, Shakib 13) Chahal bowls, and Shakib lifts his first delivery over his right shoulder to fine leg for four. Rishabh Pant has kept wicket for the last couple of overs, with Dhoni briefly off the field, but is now handing back the gloves.
12th over: Bangladesh 53-1 (Soumya 22, Shakib 7) India thus lose their review, which seems a little harsh for such a marginal decision, and when ball tracking would have shown umpire’s call, which would have allowed them to keep it. The over had started with Soumya hitting through the covers for four, the best shot of his innings so far.
Not out!
It doesn’t even get that far, as it’s impossible to decide with any certainty that the ball didn’t hit the bat, or, if it did so, whether it hit the pad first. It all seemed to happen at the same time, and given the on-field decision I can’t see how it could have happened any differently. Kohli is miffed about it, but for what it’s worth ball tracking wouldn’t have overruled the umpire’s call.
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REVIEW! India think they've got Soumya LBW here!
The umpire, however, doesn’t. It looked to me like it was probably missing leg stump.
11th over: Bangladesh 47-1 (Soumya 17, Shakib 6) Bumrah’s back, presumably in the belief that cheaply dismissing Shakib Al Hasan would snap Bangladesh’s spirit like a brittle twig. Instead Shakib drives down the ground for four, nicely timed.
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10th over: Bangladesh 40-0 (Soumya 16, Shakib 1) Tamim raced out of the blocks, scored 15 from his first 12 deliveries with three excellent boundaries, then his form suddenly departed and he got seven off his next 17 balls, with no boundaries.
WICKET! Tamim Iqbal b Shami 22 (Bangladesh 39-1)
Tamim tries to push a rising ball down to third man but he’s late to it, and it flicks off the toe of the bat and into the stumps!
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9th over: Bangladesh 38-0 (Tamim 22, Soumya 15) Bhuvi Kumar continues, and four singles are taken. This is a decent start from Bangladesh, but they require something a bit more than decent.
8th over: Bangladesh 34-0 (Tamim 20, Soumya 13) Mohammad Shami replaces Bumrah, and Soumya Sakar gets his first boundary, lifting over point for four. Meanwhile in Leicester, England are struggling against both Australia and the umpires:
WICKET! Fran WIlson cannot believe she is given out lbw with the ball clearly striking her glove.
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 2, 2019
England 52-4 after 15 overs, with Sciver (12 not out) and Brunt (3 not out) at the crease.
Watch #WomensAshes live on Sky Sports Mix (channel 121) now. pic.twitter.com/ElQZWCq2bC
7th over: Bangladesh 28-0 (Tamim 20, Soumya 7) Tamim, timing still Awol, slogs the ball skyward towards deep midwicket, where it lands safely.
6th over: Bangladesh 24-0 (Tamim 16, Soumya 7) They take a sharp single to short third man, where Pandya fields and takes a shy at the stumps. He misses, though, and with nobody backing up it rockets away to the rope and they end up with five. Bumrah’s penultimate delivery is clocked at 93mph; his last is a steepling bouncer that Dhoni does well to get a glovetip to, saving a few runs in the process. Six off the over: a single, four overthrows and a bye.
5th over: Bangladesh 18-0 (Tamim 16, Soumya 2) Tamim’s timing vanishes as Bhuvi takes aims at leg stump, and after some awkward squirming they scamper a couple of singles off the last couple of deliveries.
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4th over: Bangladesh 16-0 (Tamim 15, Soumya 1) Phwoar! Bumrah’s delivery heads towards leg stump, straightens off the seam, whips past the bat and bounces just over off. A maiden, and a very uncomfortable one for the batsman.
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3rd over: Bangladesh 16-0 (Tamim 15, Soumya 1) Tamim is looking in fabulous nick already, now driving imperiously through the covers. Soumya, by contrast, is feeling his way into proceedings.
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2nd over: Bangladesh 9-0 (Tamim 9, Soumya 0) Tamim pings the ball off his pads and through midwicket for four, fabulously timed. Then Bumrah’s last delivery, a bit too wide of off stump, is speared through the covers.
1st over: Bangladesh 1-0 (Tamim 1, Soumya 0) Bhuvi Kumar bowls, and after two dots Tamim Iqbal waves his bat at a delivery that starts wide and moves wider, an ugly shot that misses the ball by a distance. A single later Soumya’s at it as well, after the ball jags wildly off the seam, and then the last heads the other way, into the batsman who reacts well to fend it away.
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The players are already back out, and ready to rock.
@Simon_Burnton
— krish (@vkmagus) July 2, 2019
Bangladesh should consider their target as 285 in 40 overs as one gentleman named Bumrah has his quota of 10 overs #BANvIND #ICCCricketWorldCup2019
Thanks Daniel. Afternoon/morning/whatever everyone. Well this might be fun. At one stage it looked like Bangladesh would have had a lot more than 315 runs to aim at, though they have only scored 300+ to win ODIs four times in their history (most recently against West Indies a couple of weeks back). This might just be doable, if they get off to a good start and assuming India’s late-innings slow-down was entirely down to Bangladesh’s excellence and not the pitch suddenly mutating into something awkward.
I suppose the most likely outcome here is India by 60 or so, but there’s plenty of scope for something way, way better than that. Bangladesh will miss Mamudullah (and yours) - they’ll probably need something serious from Tamim, who owes them one, and Shakib – but both are eminently capable.
Simon Burnton will coax you through all of that - you can email him here or tweet @Simon_Burnton.
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Bangladesh need 315 to beat India!
For a long time, that looked like being a lot more – Rohit Sharma is decent at ODIs – and Bangladesh will fancy they’ve a chance in the chase. India are warm favourites, especially with the pitch slowing up, but Bangladesh have some serious firepower, if they can avoid losing wickets in the opening powerplay.
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WICKET! Shami b Mustafizur Rahman 1 (India 314-9)
Shami does all he can to manufacture a hoik to leg from a ball outside off, but contrives to shovel onto his stumps instead. That’s fifer for Mustafizur, who bowled a superb final over.
WICKET! Kumar run out 3 (India 314-8)
They run on a wide and Mushfiqur chucks to Mustafizur, who removes the bails.
50th over: India 315-7 (Kumar 3, Shami 1) Bhuvi forces a single to midwicket, then Shami drags from outside off to wide long on. Then a wide, and they try to steal and extra run...
WICKET! Dhoni c Shakib Al Hasan b Mustafizur Rahman 35 (India 311-7)
Dhoni goes again, unloading the years at a bouncer, but it’s on him too quickly and he slams it into the air, cross-batted; Shakib catches easily, behind the stumps at the non-striker’s.
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50th over: India 311-6 (Dhoni 35, Kumar 1) Mustafizur charges in and Dhoni flays him to long off, but there’s a man out; Dhoni refuses the single because he’s Dhoni. Next, he cracks to the man at mid on...
49th over: India 311-6 (Dhoni 35, Kumar 1) Dhoni drives two to cover and they run two, then he absolutely zetzes four through extra cover, down on one knee like back in the day. Two dots follows, then he hops back, waits, and clouts four more - through extra cover again. “Dhoni, Dhoni, Dhoni!” chant the crowd, even though their hero is wearing a tank top. I guess we can abandon the OBO’s sartorial code when it comes to his ilk.
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48th over: India 300-6 (Dhoni 24, Kumar 1) Bhuvi gets off the mark immediately, nudging into the off side for one, then Dhoni adds another. This has been a really great comeback from Bangladesh, who were in danger of chasing a monster but are now looking at something manageable.
“I think the point is that by virtue of being level on points both teams have had the same chance against the same opposition and ended up with the same points,” says Geoff Saunders. “So head to head must be a better indicator of the better side to go forward. If not, you get a situation where one team goes to the next stage by virtue of hitting more runs against poor opposition but the team that beat them is left out. How would you feel if you had beaten that team yet they go through?”
Yes, I agree with this. Mathematics should not be a prominent feature of things.
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WICKET! Karthik c Mossadek Hossain b Mustafizur Rahman 8 (India 298-6)
A well-disguised slower-ball bouncer has Karthik piling through the shot way too soon and spooning a catch to mid on.
47th over: India 297-5 (Dhoni 22, Karthik 8) Shaifuddin returns, and Karthik could do with doing something, being picked for roughly this eventuality. And he does, shaping to drive then opening the face to smack a square drive through point for four. Three singles before, then two after, make this a reasonable over, nine coming from it, but I’m not sure why India aren’t swinging for the fences. Bhuvi can bat, so they’ve got at least one more wicket to risk losing.
46th over: India 288-5 (Dhoni 19, Karthik 2) Is Dhoni going? He takes a tiny step then allows the ball across body and bat, glancing to the fence for four. A single follows, but the fielder shies, hits, and concedes an overthrow., then three more singles arrive.
“Have you seen the number of times that Rohit Sharma gets out immediately after getting his hundred,” tweets Krish. “Show me a more selfish , personal glory driven cricketer than him. And Bangladesh has all chances now to wrap up this game.”
I don’t think it’s a selfish thing, just that those of us who’ve played the game know that mentally it’s hard to refocus after reaching a milestone. Better to make 100 and something than 20 something - my guess is his team-mates are quite happy with his work so far.
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45th over: India 279-5 (Dhoni 11, Karthik 1) India need something from Dhoni here, but it’s Karthik on strike and he’s off the mark right away, turning to midwicket. Dhoni has to content himself with a single too, then an absolute jaffa grips and spins past Karthik’s outside edge. The last delivery is a dot, and Shakib finishes with 1-41 from his 10, yet another dazzling effort.
WICKET! Pant c Mossadek Hossain b Shakib Al Hasan 48 (India 277-5)
A heave takes the ball from outside off to deep square, but it’s not out of the middle and picks out the man, who botches it ... only to take the rebound off his own shoulder. Bangladesh are bang in this!
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44th over: India 277-4 (Pant 48, Dhoni 10) Rubel returns and strays to leg - though Mushfiqur should stop it - ceding four leg byes. Dhoni’s found it tricky against the spinners so might fancy a dart here, but it takes until the fourth ball of the over for Pant to work a single ... but it doesn’t matter, its final delivery pulled hard to deep square for four.
The women’s Ashes are about to get underway - be following them here.
43rd over: India 268-4 (Pant 47, Dhoni 6) Shakib has bowled pretty well here - he’s 0-39 off nine - and the three added to his tally from this over, he’d’ve took, as Ryan Giggs would say.
42nd over: India 265-4 (Pant 44, Dhoni 6) And there he goes! Mustafizur tries a full one and Pant bends the knee to curl a pull around his front foot, sending a one-bounce four to deep square. Pant is a serious talent!A wide follows, then a single, before Dhoni times three through midwicket. Pant responds with a single, and that’s 10 off the over.
“After that wicket of Pandya, India’s progress depends on three wicket-keepers,” says Mahindra Killedar. “Not sure how many times that has happened before!!”
The aim is to have a team of them, like England and flighty batsmen.
41st over: India 255-4 (Pant 38, Dhoni 3) Shakib returns for a go at Dhoni, who twirls through a very useful over, just three coming from it. I wonder if Dhoni will be content to keep the score moving, leaving the pyrotechnics to Pant [insert name-based gag here].
40th over: India 251-4 (Pant 36, Dhoni 1) Have a look! Pant does not wait to be asked! After defending Saifuddin’s first ball, he creams him through cover for four; then whacks through midwicket for four; then rousts through point for four! Two singles follow, and that’s 14 from the over.
“One theoretical consideration against head-to-head as a tournament classifier”, tweets Rory Bowden, “is that, if two teams are tied on overall results, then head-to-head and each team’s performance against all other teams necessarily give opposing results.”
Sure, but the points are level. Head-to-head has got to be worth more than who smashed the worst team by the more, or lost to the best team by the least.
39th over: India 237-4 (Pant 23, Dhoni 0) A double-wicket maiden from Mustafizur, and the key over of the match so far. Bangladesh won’t mind even 10 an over from here.
WICKET! Pandya c Soumya Sarkar b Mustafizur Rahman 0 (India 237-4)
Yep, this new one works well! Mustafizur rolls his fingers over one, it sticks in the pitch a little, and Pandya guides expertly to slip. Bangladesh might just have themselves a live chase!
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39th over: India 237-3 (Pant 23, Pandya 0) Pandya plays one defensive shot, then calls for a new bat. Attention to detail, that.
WICKET! Kohli c Rubel Hossain c Mustafizur Rahman 26 (India 237-3)
They’re not together anymore! Kohli pulls for his favourite short boundary and is punished for his ungentlemanly conduct, picking out the fielder who snaffles, then puts the brakes on sharpish. Not that short after all then, what.
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38th over: India 237-2 (Kohli 26, Pant 23) Pant is in alright! Soumya offers him length, so he gets down to it, sways away, and sweeps it fine for four. That is rrrridiculous behaviour, and another six runs come from the over; as kong as these two are togther, India are looking good for 350 or so.
“Iconoclast or bust,” says Matt Dony. “Completely on board with your summation of Imagine. Obviously, there are objectively worse songs in existence, but I don’t think there’s another song with so great a disparity between actual quality and the amount of praise heaped upon it by people who should know better. Bad 6th Form poetry set to a twee melody. See also: the writings of Philip K Dick. His books always make great sci-fi lists and people eulogise about his genius, but they’re so badly written that they’re almost unreadable at points. Great ideas, yes. But shocking execution.”
I’ve not read any Dick, but I never got Franzen for the same reasons I don’t like Imagine.
37th over: India 227-2 (Kohli 23, Pant 16) Shakib returns and have a look! He gives one some air, and Virat - he of the elasticated iron wrists - spirits it through midwicket, breaking them at the last second. Four, then a single, then four to Pant who gets down on one knee, stays low, and paddles over the spin. He’s in now, and will be snorting a chance to establish himself.
36th over: India 217-2 (Kohli 18, Pant 11) Soumya returns just as my Sky player crashes, but they milk six from his over. If Bangldesh can limit India to, say, another 120 from the 14 overs left, they might just fancy the chase. However, they’ll need to get Kohli out to get near that. Good luck, lads.
“As a Bangladesh fan I am happy to echo praise for Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim,” says Sumit Rahman, “but we must surely salute the best news story of all so far from Bangladesh in this World Cup. But then again, I don’t know if we want to give Jonny Bairstow any more ideas of dealing with criticism – I prefer his ‘score a century next match’ method.”
He’s a funny one, Bairstow - goes about like he’s the talent he is, not the player he is. If he needs conflict to deliver, good for him - it’s his job to do whatever’s necessary - but my suspicion is that it might work in the short-term, but in the long-run will be draining and annoying. It might make more sense to watch the ball and stop missing it or smacking it up in the air at moments of high tension.
35th over: India 211-2 (Kohli 14, Pant 9) Rubel opens his seventh over with a leg bye, then Kohli twizzles four through midwicket - Mashrafe dived, but couldn’t get down fast enough.Two singles follow.
34th over: India 204-2 (Kohli 9, Pant 8) Mossadek replaces Soumya and is doing quite nicely, just a wide conceded from his first four balls, until Pant sidles down the track and swings him into the seats at long on with minimum effort and maximum prejudice.
“After seeing the post suggesting that England and NZ might contrive a result to keep Pakistan out,” says Terry Hogan, “I knocked up a quick NRR spreadsheet to run a few hypotheticals.
From my calculations, if England score 350 and bowl NZ out for 250, then Pakistan would just need to knock up a mere 446 against Bangladesh and bowl them out for 100. If NZ made it to 300 in their pursuit of 350, then Pakistan would need to score 500 and dismiss Bangladesh for 98.
Interestingly, in both these scenarios Pakistan could not bridge the gap chasing (even if they bowled Bangladesh out for 0 and hit a six off the first ball).”
What I don’t get is why the first eliminator isn’t head-to-head. Everyone’s played everyone once, no one loses out because of the rain and, in case of tied points, surely the best indicator of who’s better is who won when they ... played.
33rd over: India 196-2 (Kohli 9, Pant 1) Pant will be nervous here and Rubel sends him a tempter to start, slanted across and pleading to be played. Pant has a wave but misses, then gets off the mark with one to square leg.
WICKET! Rahul c Mushfiqur Rahim b Rubel Hossain 77 (India 195-2)
Rahul looks to cut a ball that’s too close to him and clunks a substantial edge behind. Suddenly, Bangladesh are in the game!
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33rd over: India 195-1 (Rahul 77, Kohli 9) Rubel overpitches to Virat, who monsters him for four down the ground then ro-tates the strike.
32nd over: India 190-1 (Rahul 77, Kohli 4) Soumya is milked for six, and I wonder if Kohli will set about him next time.
“You are not the only one wondering that about Rahul,” emails Digvijay Yadav. “Most of India is too. I wonder if there is a similarity between KL Rahul and, say, a young Ian Bell in that he’s obsessed with technical purity and perfectionism instead of simply seeing the ball and smacking it.”
I’m not sure that was quite Bell - he was technically gorgeous, but it wasn’t a philosophical thing, it just was. What he developed was the temperament that enabled him to deploy it under pressure - his batting in the 2013 Ashes is the best I’ve ever seen from an Englishman.
31st over: India 184-1 (Rahul 74, Kohli 1) Rubel is the lucky man, allowed to rustle through an over or two before Kohli gets violent. Just three from it - one to Kohli, who bunts into the off side and sets off, and two singles to Rahul.
“Given that we inhabit that layer of the multiverse in which Mull of Kintyre exists,” says Billy Mills, “neither Imagine nor Chasing Cars can be said to be the worst song ever. Not by a long shot, no!”
Hmmm. The profundity of Imagine is worst than anything a crap tune can impose, while Chasing Cars is one of those crap songs that thinks it’s a genius son, music for people who don’t like music.
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30th over: India 181-1 (Rahul 72 ,Kohli 0) All Tamim wanted was to keep Kohli in the hutch and now look what his mates have gone and done.
WICKET! Sharma c Liton Das b Soumya Sarkar 104 (India 180-1)
An off break diddles Rohit’s timing as he looks to go over midwicket allowing Liton Das to retreat and take the catch at cover. Decent knock, but at least they got him early before Tamim’s drop could really matter.
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30th over: India 180-0 (Rahul 71, Rohit 104) Rohit turns four off his hip to square leg.
29th over: India 176-0 (Rahul 71, Rohit 100) Shakib is on the floor! He targets the stumps, the bounce stays low, and Rohit misses with his drive! Poor Tamim! The batsmen then swap singles, and the crowd are up, waiting for Rohit’s century ... and there it is, the run he needs coming to cover. He tosses his bat, catches it, and is now tied with Sangakkara for the most tons in any world cup, four - except he’s not done here, not by a long chalk. He’s quite good at cricket.
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28th over: India 173-0 (Rahul 70, Rohit 98) “Rohit, Rohit, Rohit!” chant the crowd as Soumya trundles through another quiet over, three singles and a wide coming from it.
“This should be called the Net Run Rate game,” tweets Guy Hornsby. “It neatly explains MSD’s antics at the end of Sunday when they moved their focus to hammering a fast glut of runs today. But I’d argue we’ll be more battle hardened by India and NZ, as long as we win, which is a big IF.”
Yes, being forced to produce and producing would be a proper tonic for England. I do think they’ll win tomorrow, but I’ve no idea what’ll happen thereafter.
27th over: India 169-0 (Rahul 69, Rohit 96) Shakib returns and is milked for five singles. I wonder how many Rohit can make here, because this first hundred, if he makes it will be quick by his standards.
“Isn’t it amazing how the short boundaries seem to now be against the very essence of cricket in the narratives of Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar,” emails Suhas Misra. “I am pretty sure that the boundaries were just as short earlier and the only thing new is the post-match comments of Virat Kohli after the loss to England. Cricket has famously had its quirks through all of its history, and to hanker for standardising boundaries now, seems little else then getting (and acting on) the memo from a captain who just can’t accept that his team can lose without externalities.”
I didn’t get the fuss - everyone knew the boundary was short on one side, and I daresay England left out Moeen partly for that reason. Nothing stopped Kohli doing the same.c
26th over: India 164-0 (Rahul 67, Rohit 93) Soumya Sarkar into the attack and that’s a decent start - he cedes just two singles. Poor Tamim.
I’m told that my email address was incorrect - that’s now changed if you’d like to refresh, but otherwise try daniel.harris.casual@theguardian.com
25th over: India 162-0 (Rahul 66, Rohit 92) There’s not a lot in this pitch, but Bumrah hasn’t bowled on it yet, with 613 on the board. Rubel escapes with four from the over.
Meanwhile, here’s this week’s Spin.
24th over: India 158-0 (Rahul 63, Rohit 91) Mustafizur back into the defence, and immediately Rohit goes onto the attack, tapping six over the bowler’s head and striking the pose like there’s nothing to it, Rogue, Rogue, Rogue. he’s playing with such confidence, like a man entirely comfortable with his talent and in himself - it’s easy for him. Two singles, a two and a single follow, making this another big over, 11 from it. Poor old Tamim; if you octuple the score at 24 overs you get the intensity of his guilt.
23rd over: India 147-0 (Rahul 62, Rohit 81) Er, thanks for coming Rubel. Rahul takes a single then Rohit pulls high for four to long on, He’s already got three tons in this World Cup, and it’s impossible to see him not making it four. He’s now the competition’s leading run scorer.
“Imagine Rohit Sharma hitting a double ton today,” croons Abhijato Sensarma. “Pulling serenely all the way in peace/ You may say that I’m a dreamer/ But I’m not the only one/ I hope that during some over, you’ll join us/ And the world will be as one.....”
Imagine is the worst song of all-time, right, just ahead of Chasing Cars.
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22nd over: India 139-0 (Rahul 60, Rohit 75) Rahul guides Mosaddek into the off side, then Rohit dematerialises him back over his head into the second tier; pace off the ball, like I said. There’s something about Rohit’s swing, there really is - it’s so simple and so smooth, but so gloriously exaggerated like he’s in a comic book and I guess he sort of is, it’s just real life for the rest of us. Anyway, he and Rahul exchange singles before a jaunt down the wicket allows him to assault the final delivery on the full, whamming over cow corner for four more and breaking his bat in he process. Thirteen off the over.
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21st over: India 126-0 (Rahul 58, Rohit 64) Rohit swings at Rubel and doesn’t get all of him, carting high towards wide long on - the ball’s in the air a long time and Tamim doesn’t drop it. Any port in a storm. The batsmen run two, then Rahul nurdles one, and that’s a better over – pace off the ball seems like a better option for Bangladesh.
20th over: India 122-0 (Rahul 57, Rohit 61) The problem for Bangladesh now is that quiet overs won’t do it, especially when a quiet over means five singles ... and a drop? Rahul shoves back to Mossadek, who goes low to field ... but it’s not clear whether the ball carried and he couldn’t hold, or if it fell short.
19th over: India 117-0 (Rahul 55, Rohit 58) Rubel into the attack and Rahul is ready for him, waiting for his slotted loosener and cleansing it back past him. Good morrow, young sir, and welcome to the middle. Rubel’s next effort is on the pads, so Rahul turns it away and a misfield grants him the two he needs to raise his fifty; he’s looking very confident now. I wonder with him, though, if he’ll ever be top level, or just someone who scores big against less good opposition but when it really counts is unlikely to offer much more than a spawny 40. Anyway, Rubel then beats him outside off before due punishment is administered, a fit as cover-drive for four more. If Bangladesh can’t find something and soon, this is going to get pretty ugly and ugly pretty.
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18th over: India 105-0 (Rahul 44, Rohit 57) Mosaddek into the attack and Rohit sweeps his second ball for two; that’s the hundred partnership. Four singles follow and both these batsmen are seeing it now, their footwork so sharp and dainty.
17th over: India 99-0 (Rahul 42, Rohit 53) Rahul cuts Shakib – I think he cussed down his mum – but an excellent dive at point from Sabbir saves four. A single follows, then Rohit connects with a sweep but picks out square leg; they run one.
16th over: India 97-0 (Rahul 41, Rohit 52) KL Rahul comes to the party! Sorry, Mark Nicholas just elbowed me off my keyboard, but what happened was Rahul caned Mashrafe over wide long on for six! He then adds three more with a flick to midwicket, and India are flying.
“You want a life hack?” asks Ian Copestake. “You can’t handle this life hack. Viv Richards fairly famously suffered from haemorrhoids and faced down the social embarrassment that goes with it. I don’t know if his discomfort ever reached the stage of having to have the blighters removed but if he had known this hack he would not have needed to. To all OBOers suffering in silence I say unto you that a fibre supplement like metamucil is all you need. It will change your life.”
It’s been said before and it’ll be said again, but there is nothing the OBO cannot do for you. I’m thinking about combining it with an agony uncle column.
15th over: India 87-0 (Rahul 32, Rohit 51) Time’s up, my child. Rohit presses forward, backs away, and admonishes Shakib over the short boundary at midwicket - Virat asks that the runs be chalked off due to the unfairness of it all, but nothing doing. Next, a single down to the point fence, and that’s yet another fifty for yerman, who’s now just 27 behind Warner and 13 behind Finch in the competition top-scorers list.
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14th over: India 78-0 (Rahul 31, Rohit 43) This is much better from Bangladesh, who’ve stemmed the flow of boundaries. A two and two ones come from the over as we see the highest averages of one-day openers; Rohit is top with 57.88, Amla second with 49.89. Basically, don’t be dropping him.
13th over: India 74-0 (Rahul 30, Rohit 41) Perhaps the middle overs have come early because this is another tight one. Rahul takes one to cover, the only run of the over.
“Talking of keeping stuff in the freezer,” says John Starbuck, “do the same with your bottle of Limoncello, but remember to bring it out near the start of the meal so it’s had the ice melted ready for consuming with the dessert. (Note: this is a reprise of an OBO email some years back.) PS. When you get to a certain age, you no longer have to worry about being cool or not.”
We admire in others the poise which eludes us.
12th over: India 73-0 (Rahul 29, Rohit 40) Mashrafe must’ve been tempted to thank himself but forces another turn and it’s a much better effort, ceding just two singles.
“Vital life hack that I successfully deployed as recently as yesterday evening,” advises Brian Withington . “Changing the rubber grip on a cricket bat without a cone (re)using just a plastic bag. Engenders a tremendous sense of satisfaction that overrides any lingering environmental concerns.
As long as you paid your 5p for it, infinity billion for Brexit is a bargain - that’s the calculation, right?
11th over: India 71-0 (Rahul 28, Rohit 39) Shakib into the attack - I’m a little surprised it’s taken so long - and he sends down a much-needed over of serious bowling, just a single and a wide from it.
“That clip of Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street is one of my favourites,” emails Simon McMahon, “and as luck would have it, I’m going to see him in Hyde Park on Saturday, the day after I’ve been to Lord’s to see Bangladesh play Pakistan. Now I’m hoping that Stevie will turn up at the cricket and give the Bangladeshi anthem the full treatment. I think the ICC is missing a trick there.”
How can we make this happen? Dave and Alex doing GSTQ, Fleetwood Mac on God Defend New Zealand, and so on.
10th over: India 69-0 (Rahul 28, Rohit 38) The thing about England beating India is how it’s really knocked their confidence ... ah yes, there’s Rahul coming down to Mushrafe’s first ball and cracking it past mid off for four. And, well, oh dear - India, who tend to go slowish at the start to go ape later on are taking Bangladesh off the set, Rohit caressing through third man for four more.
9th over: India 59-0 (Rahul 23, Rohit 33) Lifehack: do not drop Rohit Sharma. After Rahul nudges a single to midwicket, consecutive fours, the first clouted on the up through extra, the second chased and angled, flat-batted, through backward point. In case Tamim is following the OBO, here’s another lifehack: keep your scotch bonnets (the best chilli pepper by far, don’t @ me) in the freezer, so that once you’ve chopped them you’re free to take your lenses out, go to the toilet, or do any of the normal, stupid things you were never warned not to do. Any more for any more?
8th over: India 47-0 (Rahul 21, Rohit 24) Mark Nicholas talks about Englanc crowding Rahul, thereby putting Rohit under pressure - it seemed to really upset him. Anyway, Saifuddin gives Rahul one on his pads which he expertly glances for four, so Saifuddin goes back outside off, overpitching, and the full face says in your face; four more. A single follows, that’s another fat-up over, 11 from it. Bangladesh are in a situation.
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7th over: India 36-0 (Rahul 11, Rohit 23) A full one from Mustafizur hauls Rohit forward, and he unloads the suitcase at a drive, edging wide of slip for four as the ground spins around Tamim, grey, tessellating circles subsuming his vision. Two singles follow.
6th over: India 30-0 (Rahul 10, Rohit 18) Ker-nuck! Rohit, beaten by Saif’s first ball, larrups his third over extra cover for another six; poor Tamim. A single follows, then Rahul takes two through midwicket and everything about this smells huge.
While you follow along here, there’s plenty else going on - join Tanya Aldred’s county blog to make sure you spend your day in the proper manner.
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5th over: India 21-0 (Rahul 8, Rohit 11) After three dots, Rohit swipes across the line ... and running around the square leg fence, Tamim – Hebrew meaning, “Perfect” – is chugging along to pouch! Except he spills it and his team are now in world of trouble. That was so miserable it deserves its own Blackadderian extended metaphor: more miserable than Mark Hughes chopping onions, with The Champ tattooed onto his eyelids.
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4th over: India 18-0 (Rahul 8, Rohit 9) Bit of swing for Saifuddin, who then beats Rahul with length and bounce. Two more dots follow one strays straight; Rahul turns it away, then Shakib dives over it and turns two into four.
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3rd over: India 14-0 (Rahul 4, Rohit 9) Mustafizur replaces Mashrafe and concedes three singles. Already, Bangladesh need a wicket, because getting stuck into the middle order early is the only way they win this, save a ludcirous intervention by one of their batsmen.
“With everyone talking up Shakib,” says Matt Potter, “has it gone under the radar how brilliant a tournament Mushfiqur Rahim is having? Comfortably the highest run scoring keeper in the tournament and very few errors behind the stumps.”
Agreed, he’s been excellent. There’s just something almost mystical about what Shakib’s doing - he’s got that ability to see in simplicity that only the best have.
2nd over: India 11-0 (Rahul 2, Rohit 8) Mohammad Saifuddin opens from the other end and is immediately into stride, bowling mainly full of and on a length. Rahul digs out his final ball for a single to square leg, the only run off the over.
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1st over: India 10-0 (Rahul 1, Rohit 8) India avoid the ignominy of an opening-over maiden, Rahul easing Mashrafe for one to backward point. A wide follows, then a dot and a short one; Rohit deadbats it back to the bowler. Nah, not really. As if! He spanks it for six over deep backward square, then turns two to midwicket, and that’s a useful start. Also: is Rohit the coolest man in this competition? Virat is also a contender, but only if you define “cool” as “everything every human should be but can’t be”, rather than “calm, composed and with a mortifying yet inspiring presence”.
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“What’s your take on a deliciously contrived result tomorrow?” asks Brian Withington. “A narrow win for England would almost certainly take NZ through on Net Run Rate. Adam Collins was intrigued by the prospect of cricket’s own version of the 1982 ‘Disgrace of Gijón’, when Austria and West Germany role-played out a 1-0 win for the latter that caused a furore that changed the playing format of all future World Cups. We won’t even mention Somerset’s declaration vs Worcester in the 1979 B&H after just one over as that wouldn’t help the NRR any more (and got Somerset retrospectively banned).”
There’s a game on tomorrow? I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, but were there to be one, we could be sure that both sides would go at it like meshuggeners.
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“Batsmen in...”
The India anthem is a lowkey banger, and what I love about Bangladesh’s is that, like Stevie on Sesame Street, it shows no mercy. It’s got stuff it wants to say, and it’s saying it, properly and well.
Out come the teams!
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There’s already a fairly decent racket in the ground, but it won’t feel like a proper atmosphere until there’s a band and people cheering their own taxed-from-football songs.
Do we need an England World Cup song, and who would sing it? An Alex and Dave duet?
It’s taken 12 minutes, but finally they’re showing us highlights of England-India. But I still see that sweep from Fat Gatt, Wasim castling Lamb, and Imran dancing...
Sky have some VT for Shakib, who says he’s not sure why it’s all going so well for him. He’s got himself fitter, but isn’t the only person working hard, which is to say asking someone good at something how they’re good at something is like nailing gold dust to the sea.
Two changes apiece: for India, Bhuvi replaces Yadav - Virat references that short boundary one more – and Karthik replaces Jadhav.
For Bangladesh, Mahmudullah doesn’t make it, and is replaced by Sabbir Rahman, and Rubel Hossain also plays, replacing Mehidy Hasan.
Mashrafe Mortaza would’ve batted too.
India win the toss and ... will bat.
It’s a used wicket and got slower and slower on Sunday, plus it’s good to put runs on the board, apparently.
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Accuse me of recency bias if you like, but I don’t think there’s ever been a competition quite like this one in one key aspect: we’ve not a clue who’s going to win it. Usually, we think we know even if we don’t, but if the last four turns out to be Australia, New Zealand, India and Pakistan, I’d feel confident laying New Zealand but wouldn’t have a clue about the rest.
I’m beginning to doubt that a box-room in north London is, in fact, the best place to spend today.
Neither side is likely to alter much following their last match. India have the option of restoring Bhuvneshwar Kumar to their XI and I fancy they might, to shore up the batting as much as anything. He’d replace either Mohammed Shami, who bowled really well against England except when he didn’t or, given the flat track and asymmetric boundaries, either Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal. My guess is that Chahal gets the chop.
As for Bangladesh, Mahmudullah, who hurt his calf against Afghanistan, is good to go.
Preamble
The phrase “bad World Cup” is an oxymoron up there with “cool beard”, “orderly Brexit” and “young love”, but for a while, when it was raining and predictable, we were on the cusp. Now, though, as we complete the penultimate round of matches, we stand on the cusp of a jazzer for the ages. There is still only one side guaranteed a semi-final slot, with five others ruckusing for the remaining three - including both of those charged with enriching our Tuesday.
India are almost there – a win today or a win over Sri Lanka on Saturday is all they need. But suddenly, that “all” isn’t uttered quite as glibly as before. Their three champions – Rohit, Virat and Jasprit – should do enough, but aggravation against Afghanistan and defeat to England made clear that if they don’t, the others can’t be relied upon to intervene.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, need a bit of help: a win today and a win over Pakistan on Friday will only be sufficient if New Zealand beat England tomorrow – or if they win big and New Zealand lose big. The former is far more likely than the latter. Bangladesh have loads of runs in them, enough variety with the ball to cause problems on a track that will slow, and in Shakib Al Hasan, a force of nature and one of the players of the tournament. If he can transmogrify the toss to ensure that his team bats first, India will start to wonder.
But, in the end, however fun the round-robin has been, knockout brilliance is required to permanently enshrine England ’19 in the annals of humanity – those of us with a host-nation bias will hope that Shane Meadows doesn’t wind up making the series – and, more or less, that epoch begins today. It could be very, very special.
Play: 10.30am BST
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