So close yet so far again for Bangladesh against India in a T20 World Cup
Though Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed hit six boundaries in the last three overs, including two in the final over, India managed to hold their nerve for a tight win.
The Super 12 encounter between India and Bangladesh in Adelaide on Wednesday went right down to the wire as Rohit Sharma's men edged out Shakib Al Hasan and Co. by five runs (DLS method).
India set a daunting target for Bangladesh but Litton Das made it look like a cakewalk initially as he took the Indian new ball attack to the cleaners.
Das reached his 50 in just 21 deliveries and took Bangladesh's score to 60/0 at the end of the powerplay. The Tigers were 66/0 after seven overs when rain interrupted the game. The target was reduced to 151 from 16 overs via the DLS method and Bangladesh lost Das immediately after the resumption.
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He made 60 from just 27 deliveries and set the base for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh lost their way completely after the match resumed following a brief interruption due to rain. They lost six wickets for just 40 runs after being 68/0 and a big loss looked on the cards.
But Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed played fighting knocks to take the game too close for India's comfort. Nurul remained unbeaten on 25 from 14 deliveries while Taskin made 12* from seven deliveries as Bangladesh fell just six runs short of the revised target.
Earlier, Rahul set the tone for India's innings with some breathtaking shots right from the beginning. He was still going at a run-a-ball but things changed when he hit two sixes and a four off Shoriful Islam in the ninth over of the innings. Rahul reached his fifty after playing 31 deliveries but he got dismissed immediately as he was caught out by Mustafizur Rahman off Shakib Al Hasan.
Kohli also carried his rich vein of form forward. He became the highest run-scorer in the history of the T20 World Cup when he took his 16th run in this innings and also went on to play yet another magnificent knock of an unbeaten 64 from 44 balls, his third fifty of this tournament.
Suryakumar Yadav also looked in great touch once again but his innings was cut short on 30 from just 16 deliveries. India did encounter some hiccups as they lost the wickets of Dinesh Karthik and Axar Patel in quick succession but Ravichandran Ashwin played an excellent cameo of 13* from just six deliveries to help India to a commanding total of 184/6.
This win has now strengthened India's chances of securing a semi-final berth. They are placed at the top of Group 2 right now with a pretty good NRR of +0.730.
Bangladesh are ranked third followed by Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Netherlands. They have a NRR of -1.276.
Pakistan can still make it to the top two with two wins in two games while South Africa can seal their semifinal berth with a win over Pakistan in the next game.
That will make sure that India qualifies for the final four. However, if Pakistan win both their last games and India face defeat against Zimbabwe, then Pakistan can qualify given that they win with big margins.
