Two days after a morale-denting defeat by England, India restored order to their World Cup campaign with victory against Bangladesh at the same venue to secure a place in the semi-finals with a group match to spare.
Rohit Sharma’s fourth century of the tournament, a feat that makes him the leading runscorer with 544, proved the key contribution as India set their opponents 315 to win.
Yet for a Bangladesh side who knew that nothing other than victory would keep alive their own hopes of reaching the last four, this will feel like an opportunity missed.
In Shakib Al Hasan they perhaps have the player of the World Cup so far. But not even the all-rounder’s sixth 50-plus score in seven matches could save his team from elimination as India’s bowlers dismissed Bangladesh for 286 in 48 overs.
Things might have been so different had Tamim Iqbal not dropped a regulation chance at deep midwicket off Mustafizur Rahman when Sharma was on nine. He went on to make 104 during a 180-run opening stand with KL Rahul.
Despite a decent comeback from Bangladesh’s bowlers, the 95 runs Sharma added afterwards proved the deciding factor in this match given India’s margin of victory was 28 runs.Steve Rhodes, Bangladesh’s English coach, admitted: “When you give guys like Rohit Sharma a chance you can pay the price. I was praying he’d hit another one in the air soon after. Tamim’s human, we’re all human and we’ve all dropped catches. Sometimes they can be very, very costly and that one proved to be.”
India will not care one bit, with Virat Kohli, their captain, saying: “I have been watching Rohit for years now, he is the best ODI player around. He is a joy to watch and is having the tournament of his life.”
India complete their group campaign against Sri Lanka at Headingley on Saturday, but they are likely to return to Birmingham next week for a potential semi-final against England.
Eoin Morgan’s side need to beat New Zealand at Durham on Wednesday to set that up. But this result also gives them a backdoor route into the last four if they lose, with Bangladesh able to prevent the hosts’ early exit if they beat Pakistan on Friday.
Bangladesh had chased down 322 against West Indies earlier in the tournament. They rattled India here, too, with Kohli angrily confronting the on-field officials in the 12th over after losing an lbw review when third umpire Aleem Dar deemed Soumya Sarkar had edged the ball. When Hardik Pandya dismissed Sarkar three overs later, Kohli mouthed “out” and raised his finger. Whether or not he is sanctioned for his petulance remains to be seen.
Bangladesh reached the 30-over mark still in contention on 163 for four. But their hopes dwindled when Shakib was dismissed by Pandya four overs later, a leading edge taken at extra cover. They fought until the end, but not even a spirited half-century from Mohammad Saifuddin could deny India.
