NORTH SOUND: Hardik Pandya’s quickfire half-century, followed by a combined bowling display powered India to outclass Bangladesh by 50 runs in the 47th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Saturday.
Set to chase 197, Bangladesh could only manage 146 runs for the loss of eight wickets.
Bangladesh had a decent start to the pursuit as openers Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan put on a controlled 35-run partnership.
The pair appeared to be in control until Das fell victim to Hardik Pandya’s slower delivery in the fifth over. The wicketkeeper batter made 13 off 10.
Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto then joined Hasan in the middle to anchor the run chase. The duo added 31 runs for the second wicket before Kuldeep Yadav trapped the opener lbw on 29.
Yadav then struck again in the next over, dismissing Towhid Hridoy (4) to give India an upper hand as Bangladesh slipped to 76/3 in 11.1 overs.
The back-to-back dismissals pushed Bangladesh to the back foot.
Shanto then put together a brief partnership with Shakib Al Hasan (11) before finally walking back to the dressing room in the 16th over.
Bangladesh skipper waged a lone battle for his side with a 32-ball 40, which included one four and three sixes.
Rishad Hossain then offered notable resistance against a dominant Indian bowling attack with a 24-run cameo before he was neutralized by ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the penultimate over.
Kuldeep Yadav led the bowling attack of India with 3/19 in his four overs, followed by Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh with two wickets apiece.
Put into bat first, India finished at 196/5 in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of Hardik Pandya’s quickfire half-century.
The former champions had a decent start to their innings as their seasoned opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli recorded a 39-run opening partnership.
Rohit, who was the core aggressor of the stand, miscued one off Shakib Al Hasan and walked back after scoring 23 off 11 balls, hitting three fours and a six.
Kohli then joined forces with wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and together they raised 32 runs until the former fell victim to Tanzim Hasan Sakib on the first delivery of the ninth over.
India’s star batter scored 37 off 28 deliveries, laced up with four boundaries including three sixes.
India then sustained another blow in the same over when top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav perished for a two-ball six, bringing the total down to 77/3 in 8.3 overs.
Following the back-to-back dismissals, Pant partnered with Shivam Dube and the duo briefly anchored the innings until the former’s dismissal in the 12th over.
Pant remained a notable run-getter for India with a 24-ball 36 which featured four fours and two sixes.
Coming out to bat at No.6, Hardik Pandya took the reigns of India’s innings and bolstered the total with belligerent hitting.
He stitched an important partnership for the fifth wicket with Shivam Dube which yielded 53 runs and lasted with the latter’s dismissal in the 18th over. Dube struck three sixes on his way to a 24-ball 34.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya kept going and continued the attack on Bangladesh bowlers to help India breach the 190-run barrier.
He top-scored for India with a 27-ball 50 with the help of four fours and three sixes.
Rishad Hossain and Tanzim Hasan Sakib bagged two wickets each for Bangladesh while Shakib Al Hasan made one scalp.
The 50-run victory propelled India to the top of Group 1 of the Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 with four points in two matches while Bangladesh remained at the bottom.
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