‘India frustrate Australia’ not doing anything, clinch historical draw @ SCG

#India defended anything and everything that came into their way and batted two sessions doing almost nothing and just killed Australian dreams of winning the test match and take a 2-1 lead. Thanks to #HanumaVihari and #RavichandranAshwin for their stupendous batting. It will be remembered as one of the famous draws in the history of test cricket and also Indian cricket.

Awesome team India…Grit, character and defense at its best…one of the best test match cricket I have seen since long time…!

#HanumaVihari and #RavichandranAshwin playing almost half of final day, #RishabhPant going on rampage…#CheteshwarPujara going technically in a master defense way in both innings immaterial of what people and critics said….all you needed to do is kill the time, kill the opponents…and boy…didn’t India frustrate Aussies to the core…!!

It was fascinating to see Vihari bat a long innings in spite of his hamstring injury….Ashwin not giving his wicket away but giving pain to #Paine in a heated argument…Pant murdering the Aussie bowlers in spite of coming from an injury… #Pujara looking solid….#RavindraJadeja waiting to bat with his gloves on in spite of being injured and ruled out from the series…India surviving the racial abuse and sledging…holding on to the nerves…showing character…what a fightback!

The recipe for one of the greatest test survivals was on! And India pulled out a draw….it was equal to a win.

I would rather say, India won this match in all terms…It was India’s match and…India definitely played in the spirit of the game…or rather should I tell……!!

#India would have actually won the match…if they would have planned a proper shape-up of their 4th innings….well, the draw too is worth it given the circumstances…Vihari might not play the next match, he was criticized, yes, he did not fit into his role as expected…he was given too many chances…but didn’t he save a match for India?

Though it is a team effort, I would tell… Well done Vihari and Ashwin…

How India would have won this test match?

I feel India should have batted better in the first innings and shrunk that lead.

India’s bowling should have been tighter in the Australia’s second innings.

#RohitSharma and #ShubmanGill should have gone to stumps on day 4 without losing a wicket, especially after giving that good start.

#AjinkyaRahane should have contributed with the bat in both innings.

#RavindraJadeja should not have been injured and so does Vihari.

#RishabhPant should have got a big century. He and #CheteshwarPujara who were playing superbly should have gone to tea break without losing their wickets.

If 3-4 of the above factors would work for India, they would have easily chased down 400+ runs target and won the match comfortably.

Well done team India!!

ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Finals – England is the new world cup champion!

Amidst fluctuating fortunes, England beat New Zealand in the battle of nerves, in the last ball of the super over to become the new champions of the World Cup. It would have been the same for New Zealand had they completed that 1 run needed to win in the last ball of the super over! But the destiny had a different story to tell.

New Zealand scored 241 runs batting first at Lords, losing 8 wickets in the proceedings. England denied the Kiwis from scoring freely. Henry Nicholas (55 runs) and Tom Latham (47 runs) top scored for New Zealand. Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett took 3 wickets each for England.

While it looked like England would chase down the score without trouble, New Zealand put them on back foot when England lost their 4 batsmen with 86 runs on board in the 24^th over. The required run rate was mounting for England and the target was looking tougher with each over being bowled. New Zealand blocked and choked the runs and constantly put pressure on England. Then a 110 runs partnership between Ben Stokes (84 runs) and Jos Buttler (59 runs) resuscitated England’s innings and brought them back into the game. England lost wickets yet again leaving Stokes to do the finishing act at the end. But the pressure got better off him. Martin Guptill who had taken New Zealand to the finals after running out M.S. Dhoni with that golden throw in the semifinals, overthrew a ball to the boundary in the last over which proved costly for New Zealand. But still New Zealand managed to tie the match when they run out Mark Wood in the last ball of the second session, with the scores leveling at 241. Lockie Ferguson and James Neesham took 3 wickets each for New Zealand.

England scored 15 runs in the super over leaving New Zealand to score 16 runs to win, but they had managed 2 boundaries. New Zealand got 15 runs in the last ball of the super over, but they had scored only one boundary. England won on the basis of that extra boundary they hit in the super over.

After all the matches, the finale was on a different planet and the cricket was at its best. It was like a suspense thriller. It needed 2 last balls, one of the last ball of the match and the other, the last ball of the super over. Ultimately a boundary mattered. 1 run and few inches denied New Zealand off their first ever world cup win, but the same mathematics got England their first ever world cup!

I personally felt that this was the best fitting final I have ever watched in my life, in any world cup or major tournaments!

The world cup was as if it was tailor made for England. They had their ups and downs in the world cup. At a point England were even looking suspicious of qualifying to the top four. And ultimately, they played as a team, held their nerves, played superb cricket and they deserved the win!

Kane Williamson was declared as the man of the series, rightly! What a man, the way he led his team in the world cup was exemplary, but it was bad to see them lose. There had to be only one winner after all!

Ben Stokes won the man of the match honors. Didn’t he deserve it? He held the England innings together and designed a win for his team on the deciding day!

If the super over rule wasn’t there, we would have two winners today, England and New Zealand, both winning for the first time! Rule sometimes look harsh, but rules are rules!

Hearty congratulations to team England on their world cup win!

Good wishes for New Zealand. Congratulations to them too for making an edge of the seat thriller final, the best ever the world of cricket could ever see! They made England earn the world cup every ball, and were in the match till the last ball of the match. What a team!

I felt that the cricket really won the world cup today!

CWC 2019 Match 47 – 2nd Semifinal – England upset Australia, it is England v/s New Zealand finals

While the first semifinal was a tight fought one, courtesy Ravindra Jadeja, which pushed New Zealand to the finals, upsetting India, the second semifinal was almost a cake-walk for hosts England as they easily got rid of Australia hurdle and entered the finale. Now England would play New Zealand in the final. Whoever wins, the world would get to see a new winner in the finale.

Chasing 224 runs to win, England chased it down without any panic with almost 18 overs to spare. The top four finished the business and took their team into the finals. Jason Roy was lethal with the bat and smashed the Aussie bowlers at will. His 65 balls 85 took away the match from Australia. With Jonny Bairstow (34 runs), he put on 124 runs for the first wicket in 17 overs. Joe Root (49 runs) and Eoin Morgan (45 runs) finished off from where Roy had left.

Earlier, after winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Australia began the chase just like India did against New Zealand. English bowlers dismissed the dangerous David Warner, Aaron Finch and Peter Handscomb without troubling the scorers. In 7^th over Australia was 14 for 3 and England was seeing themselves inching towards semifinals. A patient innings from Steve Smith (85 runs) and a matured innings from Alex Carey (46 runs), who played with an injury enabled Australia to post 224 runs on board. They could have done a match out of it but Aussie bowlers couldn’t execute their plans. And when the opposition team is attacking you and not playing defensive, you would definitely have no clue to come back into the game and eventually you would give up! While Chris Woakes (3 for 20) and Jofra Archer (2 for 32) troubled Australia at the top, it was a wonderful spell by Adil Rashid (3 for 54) in the middle overs that kept the pressure on the Aussie batsmen intact.

Australia was one of the favorites to win the world cup but England was clinical on the day of semifinals.

I wish both England and New Zealand good for the finale. May the best team win!

Catch up with you all at Lords, for more action from the world cup finale!

CWC 2019 Match 46 – 1st Semi Final – New Zealand upset India, reach world cup finals

Everyone thought that it would be a favorable final for team India as they had created a chance to play New Zealand, the fourth placed, most underrated team, the dark horse of the tournament. This was favored by team Australia when they lost to South Africa in their last league, creating a scenario of playing England in the second semifinal against England instead of a pre-designed first semifinal which they would play against the Kiwis.

India was one of the favorites for the world cup title, and they played as per expectations in the entire tournament, except that lost match against England. The cricket lovers of the world would have predicted an India – Australia final, it is easy to predict isn’t it? Australia too had played strong in this world cup and was looking as contenders for the title. I, in fact had predicted an India – England final fixture. Everyone has their own ideologies and logics. But destiny doesn’t go as per logic and magic; it has a different tale to tell.

Indian fans might be equally heartbroken just like me, when India lost the semifinal against New Zealand at Old Trafford and were knocked out of the world cup.

The scenarios behind this match were strange. Only one of the India’s matches was washed out in the league matches, which was against New Zealand. New Zealand struggled to qualify to the semi finals as they were stuck with the mathematics, permutations, and chemistry of other teams including Pakistan if they were to qualify to the top four. But strangely New Zealand was favored by all mathematics. They were the first team to qualify into the semis and sealed the fourth place once Pakistan was put out of equation of the contention. New Zealand was to play their first semifinal against Australia had the later team won over South Africa in their last league match. But India entered into the equation after being the top placed team following their win against Sri Lanka in their last league. India would have been happy to play New Zealand at this stage instead of a strong England team which they had to place had they been at second place. India’s Thursday semifinal which was predicted to be against England turned out to be a Tuesday semifinal against New Zealand. India was playing the same team which they missed out to play due to rain. To make matters worse, the semifinal too saw the rain pouring and the match went to Wednesday, the reserved day. When the day changes, your fortune too might change! On the cards, the first placed team was playing against the fourth placed team. But the ranks won’t matter when you play good and when the stars favor you on the decisive day. New Zealand was not only lucky, but also played good cricket, better than India and qualified to the finals.

New Zealand won the toss and as expected elected to bat first. They had to face tight bowling spells by team India and couldn’t score freely. After they lost Martin Guptill in the 4^th over when the score board read 1/1 and Henry Nicholas in the 19^th over when the score was 69 for 2, New Zealand went into the shell. Kane Williamson (67 runs) and Ross Taylor (74 runs) stuck form suddenly and steadied the ship for Kiwis. At a stage, Kiwis had not even reached 100 in 30 overs. The scoring rate was pretty slow. India was on the top of their game. New Zealand never crossed the run rate of 4 runs per over until 42 overs, this shows the dominance of Indian bowlers. The exception was Chahal. It was horrible to bring in Chahal replacing Kuldeep was looking good in the previous match. It was also horrible on the part of Indian think tank for not brining Shami in an important match. I just would avoid discussing the pathetic part of this selection fearing deviation of my write up. One of Chahal’s over fetched 19 runs in a single over which happened to be the difference when India lost at the end. At the end of the first session it rained! Rain drenched and killed the Indian fortunes. But no one would have expected that the rain was more than a spoilsport for India. It was a knock-out rain. The rain never stopped. The match went to reserve day with New Zealand at 211 for 5 with 23 balls to be bowled. New Zealand came back on the reserved day, scored 28 runs in those 23 balls, lost 3 more wickets and finished with 239 for 8 setting a target of 240 to win for India. The way Ross Taylor carried his bat almost till the end, with a patient knock scripted a good score for New Zealand. India would have prayed that Kane and Ross shouldn’t play good in this important match and that just reversed. Both batsmen came into this semifinal with offbeat form and showed their true character, showed how good they were on their given day. Kane and Ross had read the pitch. When everyone commented that New Zealand never accelerated the score board and kept a turtle pace in scoring those runs and when it was predicted that 240 would be a cake-walk for strong Indian batting line up, I feel New Zealand was contended with what they scored on a tricky track. Only half the story was over and the second half was yet to come. India had to play against a disciplined Kiwi attack on this unpredictable pitch. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar picked 3 wickets. Hasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja bowled tight and unplayable spells and choked the Kiwi scoring rate.

When India came to bat, it became a fairy tale for Kiwis while a nightmare start for India when India lost Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and K.L. Rahul with score board reading 5 for 3 in the 4^th over, each of the batsmen getting 1 run to their credit. Trent Boult and Matt Henry were spilling havoc on Indian Batsmen. The fortune and result of the match was clear. It needed the Indian middle order to flourish in these conditions. Rishabh Pant who was looking confident the most by any Indian batsman and Hardik Pandya who was playing an unusual knock, scoring slowly in an uncharacteristic way, poured hopes into the Indian dressing room. But they decided to throw their wickets at crucial junctures of the match. Scuffle in the Indian batting order, panic in Indian dressing room with Captain Virat Kohli coming out in rage and disappointment and having serious discussions with coach Shastri, India holding back M.S. Dhoni and sending him late, Dinesh Karthik who was promoted ahead of Dhoni playing 20 dots upfront and showing demons in the pitch, all these showed that New Zealand had created panic in the Indian team. In between, Ravindra Jadeja was bent upon doing the entire heroics single handedly. His 77 in 59 balls and a century partnership with Dhoni (50 runs) almost took away the match from the New Zealand’s hold. India looked like winning the match. Then, following a few dot balls, the pressure increased and Ravindra Jadeja succumbed, leaving Dhoni to do the finishing act with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and the rest of the tail. The final nail in India’s coffin was hit by Martin Guptill when he ran Dhoni out with a smart throw at the timber. Guptill, who hasn’t contributed almost anything for Kiwis in this world cup suddenly did it for them with one throw. New Zealand jumped in joy as they upset India by 18 runs. They really deserved to be there. Fortunes favor the brave. Fortune also favors those who are brainy. On this day it favored the New Zealand team, as they were courageous and brainy. Matt Henry (3 for 37) was the pick of Kiwi bowlers. Trent Boult (2 for 42) and Mitchell Santner (2 for 34) were not far enough from troubling Indian batsmen.

India will have to wait for another 4 years. I wish they make some sense to pick up a good team at least for World Cup and not favored, flavored and seasoned players. That is good in the favor of the country. Luck and rankings do not help you always!

But having said that, whatever team India had (chose???) they had a good campaign and was looking to win the world cup until semifinal happened. Cheers to Kohli and his team!

Hearty congratulations for New Zealand. Wish they win the world cup and prove that they are worth it!

CWC 2019 Match 45 – Australia slip at the brim of victory, South Africa win by 10 runs

This match between Australia and South Africa which was the last among the league matches in this world cup 2019. It was not an important match for South Africa as they had been knocked out of the tournament. They just had to play for honor and pleasure. On the other hand, the result of the match would decide whom Australia would face in the semi finals. Until the beginning of this match, Australia was placed at the top and they would play the fourth placed team, i.e. New Zealand. But after India winning their match against Sri Lanka, few hours before the finish of this match and taking the first spot, Australia had to win this if they needed to finish first and play New Zealand in the semis. If they lose this, they would be placed second, next to India and then Australia would play England in the semis.

Excellent batting display by the top four batsmen of South Africa for the first time in the world cup enabled South Africa to post 325 runs on board. A superb century by Faf du Plessis and a missed century by Rassie van der Dussen (95 runs) and useful contributions by Aiden Markram (34 runs) and Quinton de Kock (52 runs) was the highlights of the match.

While it looked like what would be a tough chase for Australia, ended up to be one of the best chases you would ever see. Australia was slow in the first half of the chase. It looked like they did not have any plan to chase it down. South African bowlers are at the top of their game. They did not leak runs and bowled to a plan. By half mark, Australia had lost 4 of their top order batsmen and just had 119 on board. But guess what…David Warner was holding one end. If Warner, in such a form is playing at one end, immaterial of him playing slow or fast, it is always a threat to the opposition. Warner will have his own plans to chase down the totals. Then it happened. Alex Carey, the most talented find for Australia, their wicketkeeper batsman joined Warner and both started pulling gears. In quick time, Australia was looking like getting to the target comfortably.

Even after Warner’s dismissal in the 40^th over, Carey took the responsibility of taking the lead in the chase. But he ran out of partners. Carey made a superb 85 in 69 balls, in what looked like a probable match winning innings. Had Carey played till the end or if the tail put on a gritty stand, Australia would have erased those 10 runs with which they lost the match. David Warner’s 117 balls 122 were worth watching…what a player he is!

Having lost this match, Australia will now play the second semifinal against England. This means that India will play the first semifinal against New Zealand on Tuesday.

Well the most deserving teams which have played quality cricket are now in the semis. Wishing India, New Zealand, Australia and England the very best for the semifinal clashes, I take leave off you all! May the best team win!

Until we catch up with actions from the semifinal matches, it is goodbye folks!

Keep enjoying your world cup matches and have fun!!

CWC 2019 Match 44 – Rahul-Rohit smash tons as India defeat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets

It has become a habit for Hitman Rohit Sharma to smash tons at will. This hundred against Sri Lanka is his fifth in this world cup. Now he holds the world record for most number of hundreds by a single batsman in one season of world cup format. Hats off Hitman, take a bow! As if this was not enough for Sri Lanka, yet another century came their way from the blade of K.L. Rahul. It was pleasant to see Rahul get to his ton after having seen him get good starts, couple of 70+ scores and not reaching to his tons, missing them in inches, but this was awesome!

India had to chase down 265 runs to win. Sri Lanka has defended small totals and they are unpredictable on their given day. It looked like India may get resistance from Sri Lankan bowlers but that never happened. India was in total command of the chase. India had nothing to lose even if they happened to lose this match. Anyways it was predicted that being 2^nd placed team in the chart, India would play the 3^rd placed team i.e. England. But if India happened to win this match and if Australia were to lose to South Africa, then India would move to 1^st place in the table and would play the 4^th placed team, i.e. New Zealand in the semi final leaving Australia to play against England in the other semifinal.

When the openers put on 189 runs for the first wicket in 30 overs, the match is almost over. Sri Lanka had no answers for the Indian openers. At one point it looked as if India would score those runs without losing a wicket. India lost 3 wickets before they could snatch the victory with 6 and half overs remaining.

This was Lasith Malinga’s last match and what a player he has been for Sri Lanka! Take a bow champ, Cricket will miss your services and entertainment!

Earlier, Sri Lanka managed to get to 264 runs which at one time looked unlikely when Sri Lanka was struggling at 55 for 4 in 11.4 overs. Then a 124 run partnership between Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne for the 5^th wicket helped Sri Lanka to post a decent total on board. Angelo Mathews scored a superb ton while Thirimanne scored half ton. With figures of 3/37, Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of Indian bowlers.

India are presently sitting at 1^st place in the table after this win and would wait to see who would catch them up in the semis, England or New Zealand!!

Until we catch up with the next match…it is goodbye folks!

Keep watching the world cup matches and have fun!!

CWC 2019 Match 43 – Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 94 runs, Imam-Shaheen excel

Pakistan had to win this encounter against Bangladesh by 315 runs which was impossible for any team. That was weird mathematics, but Pakistan would blame themselves for being a part of these tough calculations. This meant that Pakistan had to play for honor, so did Bangladesh. The match anyhow didn’t matter as far as qualification for the world cup is concerned.

Baring Shakib Al Hasan’s gritty 64 runs, there was nothing much to watch in Bangladesh’s innings as they chased 316 runs target set by Pakistan. Bangladesh had given a tough chase to big totals in this edition of the world cup. But today they faltered. Shaheen Afridi stormed through the batting order of Bangladesh and claimed 6 scalps in his man of the match winning spell of 6/35 in his 9 overs. Bangladesh was bundled out for 221 with round 6 overs remaining and conceded the match to Pakistan by 94 runs. Shaheen was superb and lethal with the ball and Bangladesh batsmen had no answers against this Pakistani speedster.

Earlier, Imam ul-Haq scored a superb ton and laid the foundation for a big total for Pakistan. Along with Babar Azam, who showed great form in this world cup, Imam put on a valuable 157 runs for the second wicket. Babar Azam missed out on his ton by 4 runs. Pakistan lost wickets in a hurry towards the end, but a 26 ball 43 by Imad Wasim at the death took Pakistan past 300 run mark. Mustafizur Rahman once again picked a five wicket haul but his efforts could not materialize as far as a win for Bangladesh was concerned.

Both Pakistan and Bangladesh exit from the world cup. This meant that New Zealand make it to the semi finals as the fourth team. It is likely that they play Australia, the first placed team in the semis. But if India win their last match against Sri Lanka and if Australia lose their last match to South Africa, the semifinal fixtures will change. In that case, India will be top placed in the table and will play New Zealand and England will play Australia in the other semifinal.

But to see what would happen, we need to watch out for the final two league matches of the world cup!

Hasn’t this world cup come to the wire…? It wouldn’t be decided until the last match is played!

Until we catch up with more action from the next match, it is goodbye folks!

Keep watching the world cup and enjoy!

CWC 2019 Match 42 – Hope – Roach guide Windies to a thrilling win over Afghanistan

In an unimportant match of the world cup 2019 played between West Indies and Afghanistan who were playing for honor after being knocked out of the world cup, West Indies won the contest by 23 runs against a gritty Afghanistan team who gave a tight fight in a superb chase. Chasing 312 runs to win, Afghanistan lost the match by just 23 runs. West Indies would have had their heart in the mouth when Afghanistan was giving a chase at their big total with a ‘never give up’ attitude. After losing their opener Gulbadin Naib early in the match, Rahmat Shah (62 runs) and the 18 year old Ikram Alikhil (86 runs) put on 133 runs for the 2^nd wicket in quick time. Had Ikram scored his hundred he would have become the youngest player to achieve that feat, but he missed out narrowly. But what an innings he played!

Even as Asghar Afghan (40 runs) and Sayed Shirzad tried some heroics, they couldn’t take their team home because Afghanistan kept losing wickets around them. Kemar Roach with 3/37 was the most impressive bowler for West Indies while Carlos Brathwaite with 4 for 63 was the leading wicket taker.

Universal Boss, Chris Gayle had played his last world cup match. Though he did not flourish with the bat, he took a wicket and ended his career as far as world cup matches is concerned. On the verge of his retirement in the next few months, what a campaigner this big man from the Windies has been for cricket! He is a brand. Take a bow champion Gayle!

Earlier Shai Hope (77 runs), Evin Lewis and Nicholas Pooran (58 runs per head) and a terminal onslaught by Jason Holder (45 runs in 34 balls) made sure that West Indies reached a healthy total. In between the Afghanistan bowlers bowled tight spells and denied Windies from scoring free. But the Windies came back to post 300+ total on board which was looking unlikely at the midway of the match.

It is sad that the Afghanistan team will go home losing all their world cup matches, but they had their moments. They would have won 2-3 matches if they would have played to a different plan. But they will learn with time!

West Indies, too had a mixed bag of fluctuating fortunes. They were not a bad team; they lost few tight and close matches which they would have won. They will take few lessons home, and of course..this win, in their last match!

Until we catch up for more action from the next match, it is goodbye from me folks!

Keep watching the world cup matches and have fun!!

CWC 2019 Match 41 – Bairstow smashes ton as England register a big win over New Zealand

New Zealand is making their way into the semifinals miserable. Towards the business end of the cricket world cup 2019, New Zealand are playing some horrible cricket and are looking like a misdirected team going in weird roads. This match against England was important for Kiwis and they should have won it to make their semifinal spot sure. This match was equally important for England team to seal their spot in the semis. This loss of New Zealand has kept options open for Pakistan to enter the semifinals if they happen to win their match against Bangladesh.

Chasing a mammoth 306 runs to win, New Zealand crumpled like pack of cards being demolished by clinical English bowling. New Zealand was bowled out for 186 runs with 5 overs to spare conceding 119 run win to England. After being 69 for 4 in 17^th over, the Kiwis never recovered from the initial damage. England took control of the match and made sure that they won by big margin.

Earlier Jason Roy (60 runs) put on 123 runs in 19 overs with Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow was the top scorer for England and scored 106 runs. He laid the foundation for a big total. When the opening partnership was blazing away scoring at will, it looked like England would post more than 350 runs on board. With wickets falling in and around, Eoin Morgan scored 42 runs and with Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid contributing useful runs towards the end, England set a target of 306 runs for New Zealand.

Except Tom Latham who scored 57 runs, no New Zealand batsmen held ground.

Now New Zealand would pray that Pakistan lose their last match or do not register a big win so that they would keep their dream of semifinal match intact. But it looks unlikely for Pakistan to make it to the semis because the equation now seems not only difficult but impossible for them. New Zealand can sit breathing comfortably for time being and wish that Pakistan doesn’t do something out of human expectations. Now Pakistan needs to win their Bangladesh encounter by 315 runs. For this to happen they need to score in excess of 500 which would be a new world cup record or in fact a new one day international record. At the same time they should wish that Bangladesh doesn’t score more than 100 or 150 runs. That is a ridiculous equation. Seeing the way Bangladesh is playing, it wouldn’t be a cake walk for Pakistan. But we will still keep them in contention until the match is played!

England is placed third in the table and would play India by all means. If India manages to win over Sri Lanka and if Australia lose their last match over South Africa, then the semifinal fixtures will change. In that case, England will play Australia. Since India will be placed at the top, they would play the forth placed team which is either New Zealand or Pakistan. Let us see how this goes!

Until we catch up with more action from the next match, it is goodbye folks!

Keep viewing your world cup matches and have fun!

CWC 2019 Match 40 – Rohit Sharma registers his fourth ton as India upset Bangladesh, India enter semifinals

India became the second team to enter the semifinals of the world cup cricket 2019 after Australia as they defeated Bangladesh by 28 runs. Chasing 315 runs to win, Bangladesh shed their sweat and blood in a tight chase but faltered by 28 runs in the end. I really loved the way Bangladesh played in this entire tournament. They have chased huge totals and lost by meager margins, like West Indies. They were not fortunate enough to be on winning side on couple of occasions. Bangladesh cricket is at its flourishing best and they are playing really good cricket right at this moment. And India was not different for them. There was always a threat of Bangladesh giving a tight chase and go at the 300 + runs set by India and they had almost done it had India not pulled it off in a thrilling climax. Jasprit Bumrah was clinical with the ball and dismissed 4 of Bangladeshi batsmen while Hardik Pandya took 3 wickets in spite of giving away many runs. Right from the beginning Indian bowlers were in command of the situation. Even as the Bangladeshi batsmen tried to dominate and score at a brisk phase, the bowling changes worked for Indian bowlers. They kept taking wickets and did not allow any batsman or partnerships flourish so as to take away the match from their control. While the wily veteran Shakib Al Hasan was the top scorer for Bangladesh with 66 runs, Mohammad Saifuddin became the thorn in India’s flesh. Saifuddin played a gritty innings with a quick fire fifty and was looking in menacing mood. If he would have some senior batsman giving him company and had Bangladesh got 2-3 more wickets, he would have won the match for Bangladesh. After doing all the hard work with the ball, India had no answers for Mohammad Saifuddin. It happened to be Jasprit Bumrah who dismissed the last two batsmen in the 48^th over keeping Saifuddin at the non striking end which won the match for India. Bangladesh still had 2 overs in hand when they lost the match. Saifuddin would have fancied his chances of getting the required runs if his company would have survived the last two balls. His decision to take a single on the fourth ball of Bumrah’s over cost them the match. Now Bangladesh too are almost out of contention of the semi final berth, but they played superbly and really had deserved better result and couple more wins than this!

Earlier, India who was looking good enough to get 380+ totals, even a 400 at a point played pathetically in the last 10 overs, as they have been doing throughout the tournament, to put 314 runs on board. The runs would be enough but seeing the way the Indian bowlers had bowled in most of their matches and seeing the way Bangladesh had given a tight chase to big totals, the score was gettable by Bangladesh. Bangladesh bowlers really bowled well towards the end and were successful in restricting India below 320. It was complimented by an equally pathetic batting display by the Indian lower order.

To begin with, Rohit Sharma continuing his scintillating form stuck a superb ton, his forth in this world cup and put on 180 runs partnership with K.L.Rahul for the first wicket in 29 overs. Rahul was looking good and made 77 runs. He was looking good enough to get to his ton. India lost Virat Kohli early and Hardik Pandya did not offer anything to the total. M.S. Dhoni continued his pathetic batting just like in his other matches while the lower order were clueless against disciplined Bangladeshi bowling attack. But the best part of the match was a superb batting display by Rishabh Pant who contributed 48 runs in 41 balls. Pant is a batsman to look for as far as Indian team is concerned. He is real talent and promising. If he breaks the shells of some of the negativities he has, he would be an asset for India. His obsession to attack every ball, immaterial of the bowler and condition will be damaging to him and his team. He needs to work over this. Mustafizur Rahman caused demolition of Indian batting order with his five wicket haul.

If India continues giving away their wickets at crucial part of the match and if their bowlers do not get tight and straight, India would definitely face trouble in the business end of the tournament. As of now, India qualifies for the semifinals and will be happy to do that. Indian fans too are would be glad to see their favorite team in the semis, so do I!

Hearty congratulations to team India. I would wish India win their last league match against Sri Lanka before playing their semifinal.

Until we catch up with more action from the next match, it is goodbye from me!

Keep enjoying your world cup matches and have fun!!