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Key events
11th over: India 97-3 (Pants 26, Dube 2). India’s turn to strike a blow or two, Rishabh Pant in particular. He had been hard-pressed up to this point, but after a drink, the superstar sent back the first ball, no less than Mustafizur, through cover for four – wonderful timing. Oooh, an even better shot follows, a clip for SIX from the left arm around the wicket offering – what’s in that touch, anything is possible. And that also puts the fielders off, leading to a full toss later, a home run for four more. 14 from above.
10th over: India 83-3 (Pants 12, Dube 2). Mahmudullah for some more breaks! And the old man from this side of Bangladesh comes in and out of the over for three singles – a perfectly acceptable score. Halfway through it might be that the honors are already tied? That’s the feeling after those two wickets in a busy ninth over.
“Hey.” Hi Arul Kanhere. “Thank you for the OBO…I’m an old follower. Ravi Shastri on reports: “Pant will think twice before going against that breeze over Midwicket. Pant does just that. Why do we even try to underestimate the man?’
Pant does what most cannot and supports himself relentlessly. It’s a joy to have him back.
9th over: India 80-3 (Pants 10, Dube 1). The old boycott of adding two loopholes to the score? Yes, that. Even in T20. Pant and Dube, far from convincing, are now dealing with India’s Big Three, all dismissed before the halfway point.
VARITKA! Suryakumar c Litton Das b Tanzim 6 (2). India 77-3
Six and out! Bangladesh is going boom boom! SKY hooked his first ball, bumper, over fine leg – thanks for that mate. But the next ball, back of a length, he tried to slide it to deep third but instead put it into the gloves of keeper Das. There is almost no appeal, but the bowler, the batsman, the wicket-keeper and the umpire know that it is over. The game begins?!
VARITKA! Koli b Tanzim 37 (28). India 71-2
Knocked down by one that comes back just as much! By not reading it, Kohli lost his form and then his middle stump! Bangladesh’s best bowler in the last fortnight has the biggest wicket at a critical time for his country.
8th over: India 71-1 (Kohli 37, Pant 9). Rishad Hossain’s wickets have been a major asset for Bangladesh in the middle innings and he now begins his work. After missing leg with his first ball, Kohli realized he had a moment to make a statement, went straight back over his head for SIX! Welcome to bowling – seven off a ball, Kohli appreciates you, not fun. Ooh, to his credit, later in the race he beat him with a beauty – what they would have given for a little feather there! Pant comes back to finish and scoops a boundary past square leg. The Indian No3 is far from fluent yet, but he is still there and this knock will help.
7th over: India 56-1 (Kohli 29, Pant 4). Mahedi is the man they wanted at the top instead of Taskin and he did the job here as his second over went for just three singles. He is 0/14 from three and may well be beaten in the ninth.
6th over: India 53-1 (Kohli 27, Pant 3). Mustafizur’s overs will be used very carefully and the first one is now – the last set of the power play. Both Kohli and Pant have seen a lot of this skilful operator over the years in the IPL and play him with the respect he deserves to begin with. But then Kohli picks the right moment for a ball that is tossed, waits and fires over mid-wicket for SIX! What a wonderful way to end the power play. Rohit talks about 150 at the toss… that might be a bit of an understatement if Kohli can stay in that zone when the field comes back.
5th over: India 42-1 (Kohli 17, pant 2). Just three singles from Mahedi’s second over, making it three runs off the last nine deliveries, including a wicket. Bangladesh now have to make the most of it and run into another in this power play.
4th over: India 39-1 (Kohli 16, Pant 0). Pant is our new man and absorbs a few points to start his innings. The fact that Rohit took Shakib for a mammoth six from long-on earlier in the over, followed by a reduced four, makes his dismissal all the more timely.
VARITKA! Rohit c Jacker Ali b Shakib 23 (11). India 39-1
Shakib gets Rohit! He tries to take it against the spin but fails with a thick top edge that ends up on back point. God, how the Tigers needed this.
3rd over: India 29-0 (Rohit 13, Kohli 16). Tanzim Hasan Shakib was a revelation in the group stage, finding consistent loopholes in the power play – often at serious pace. He also goes just five times more in the tournament. They need him to shift some pressure back right away here, but that doesn’t happen when they feed Kohli on leg stump cut for his third boundary. Only six cuts though. Good result.
@collinsadam fun fact the national anthem of bangladesh was written by rabindranath tagore in 1905 and the indian national anthem was also written by rabindranath tagore im not sure if you all know about it.
— Gaurav Desai (@gauravndesai) June 22, 2024
2nd over: India 23-0 (Rohit 12, Kohli 11). Spin to win? Shakib to beat number two – they are all in with this approach. Rohit sweeps for the second time, this time nailing it in front of square for his second boundary. Kohli’s turn later in the over and he comes down the track to a ball angled into leg stump, smashing it for a SIX over midwicket! The perfect scenario for India today is not only to win the game but also to get Kohli back in the runs along the way. 15 from above – this couple is far away.
1st over: India 8-0 (Rohit 7, Kohli 1). Mahedi gets Rohit to field on the first ball but still attacks it with the raised field, clearing the man at mid-on for a couple. Third ball he makes room for a slap but is followed by a break, giving Kohli the shot with a single down the ground. He takes his tournament tally to 30 with a single off his second delivery, though not before a moment of indecision – but they are over. Last ball here and Rohit sweeps past the keeper for four.
The players are on the field! Rohit and Kohli. Mahedi Hasan, offspinner, takes first! Fascinating plan they come here with. ok… PLAY!
Too bad we lost the little ball cart for the Euros, but at least we have the ball truck for this tournament. Now it’s on its way to the middle, with the players, for the national anthems. I was in Bangladesh/South Africa on Long Island last week and got to hear the Bangladeshi crowd go all out during their national anthem. But for obvious reasons* they have no such support in Antigua today.
*Antigua is small, New York is not.
I missed the part where Rohit said at the toss that India will bat. I’ve shared this before: If I were an international cricket captain (available if selected!), I would always to tell the roll that I was going to do whatever they asked me to do after losing it.
Ian Chappell: “Right, you’ve lost the toss at the Gabba, it’s 44 degrees and you’ll be in the outfield on the way. How do you feel about this mighty task?’
Me: “Yeah, good as gold, we were going to get a cup anyway – no dramas mate.”
This group is pretty laid back. Provided India and Australia win today against Bangladesh and Afghanistan respectively, both are through and their clash in two days’ time will become a dead rubber. But it’s much less clear on the other side of the draw. South Africa, who have won both their Super 8s games, are actually in a dying spot because of the Windies’ overnight workload. To top it all off, turn on Daniel Norcross’s analysis of the night The last word under.
Text me throughout the match. Emails heretwitter (yes, I’m still there – I’ll be the last person on the platform; I’m never leaving! You can’t make me leave!) here.
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
Bangladesh: Tanzeed Hasan, Liton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Towheed Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Jacker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzeem Hasan Saqib, Mustafizur Rahman
Mehedi coming in for Taskin… that’s a huge decision.
Bangladesh won the toss, they will play first
According to my preamble, this is what Bangladesh needed. They made one change, omitting Taskin! Surely this is due to injury and not a omission or team balance? Rohit says they need to evaluate the surface as quickly as possible before starting on it. They are unchanged from the side that defeated Afghanistan.
Preamble
Adam Collins
This seems a discrepancy. India have rarely needed their best gear during this tournament, but they have clearly been very impressive. As for Bangladesh, after advancing from the weakest group, they were bullied by Australia two days ago to start their Super 8s campaign. If the favorites greet this Saturday morning’s game in Antigua, it will ensure the boys in blue are in the semi-finals.
Bangladesh’s progress to the second stage of this World Cup was largely won by their lively and capable fast bowling trio of Tanzim Hasan Shakib, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman. Their best chance here is to bat first and put Kohli and co under pressure. In almost every other scenario, the Tigers need a lot to go right.
Toss 15:00 BST, first ball 15:30.
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