Published: Mar 19, 2015, 07:52 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 19, 2016, 02:44 PM (IST)
In the end there was no hullabaloo, no drama, just another clinical show from Team India, who cruised to the semi-final comfortably, after a 109-run win over Bangladesh in the second quarter-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday.
With this win, skipper MS Dhoni and his blue brigade have made it seven wins on a trot. The win also marked Dhoni’s 100th win as a captain in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), a feat only achieved before by great Australian skippers – Allan Border and Ricky Ponting. (India vs Bangladesh: Pick of the tweets)
The Indian pacers starred yet again by sharing seven wickets between them. The Bangladesh batting order crumbled after Nasir Hossain fell and even earlier, they lost wickets at regular intervals, as the Indian bowlers put up another impressive show, bowling out their opponents for the seventh time in competetion. After Shakib Al Hasan departed, Bangladesh’s hopes also came crashing and reached the lower point.
Umesh Yadaav tormented the Bangladesh batting with four scalps. Mohammed Shami bowled well yet again and picked up two wickets. With those two scalps, he became the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, toppling Australia’s Mitchell Starc.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gave India a good start. Dhawan was stumped off Shakib. The Indian team had high hopes from their star batsman Virat Kohli, but he had a rare failure and when Rubel Hossain gave him a send-off, that provided an intense moment in the match.
For India, the hero with the bat was the man-of-the-match Rohit, who played one of his best knocks – 137 from 126, to guide India to a strong total. He was well supported by Suresh Raina, who followed up his century against Zimbabwe with a fine 64. From being 99 for four in 25 overs, India set a tough target of 303.
India will now face the winner of the Australia vs Pakistan match at Sydney on next Thursday. (Photo Gallery: Moods and Moments from India vs Bangladesh, Melbourne)
Brief scores:
India 302 for 6 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 137, Suresh Raina 65; Taskin Ahmed 3-69) bt Bangladesh 193 all out in 45 overs (Nasir Hossain 35, Umesh Yadav 4-31, Mohammad Shami 2-37, Ravindra Jadeja 2-42) – by 109 runs.
