Opener Gill’s fighting unbeaten century helps India beat Bangladesh by six wickets to being their Champions Trophy on a winning note
Shubman Gill after scoring his century against Bangladesh in Dubai yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
India converted what should have been a straightforward victory into a slightly tense one, allowing Bangladesh to escape from 35-5 in the ninth over to 228 all out and then surviving a few anxious moments at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
In the end, the class and calm of Shubman Gill, the No. 1 ODI batter in the world who brought up his eighth century, helped them begin their Champions Trophy campaign on a winning note, by what eventually was a comfortable margin of six wickets with 21 deliveries to spare. It could have been far easier had skipper Rohit Sharma at first slip not shelled the simplest of chances to let Jaker Ali off the hook and deny Axar Patel a hat-trick. Jaker associated himself in a Bangladesh record sixth-wicket stand of 154 against centurion Towfiq Hridoy to give the total some respectability despite Mohammed Shami’s five-wicket burst, during which time he got to 200 ODI wickets.
Towhid Hridoy during his 100 yesterday. Pic/AFP
Rohit appeared determined to make amends for the dropped chance, taking on Mustafizur Rahman in a sensational onslaught during which he was not always in control, the value of his 36-ball 41 becoming apparent as India’s chase took shape. With the pitch becoming extremely sluggish, brisk run-making was fraught with danger. Rohit’s brilliant early aggression had, however, taken run-rate pressure out of the equation and even though India huffed and puffed towards the target, Gill held firm, getting the job done in the company of KL Rahul.
Solid opening stand
Rohit and Gill had put on 69 in just 53 deliveries, but for new batters against an ageing ball, fluency wasn’t the easiest option. Virat Kohli was tied up by leggie Rishad Hossain, who bowled superbly and found just rewards when he dismissed the former captain and then Axar. In between, Mustafizur accounted for Shreyas Iyer with a slower ball to leave India on the ropes at 144 for four.
India, though, still had the excellence of Gill to bank on. The vice-captain, who made 112 against England in India’s last ODI in Ahmedabad eight nights back, dialled his aggression down upon Rohit’s dismissal and played the situation superbly, working the gaps, running hard and ensuring that the nerves in the dressing room didn’t jangle. Rahul was fortunate to be dropped by Jaker on the mid-wicket fence when on nine, but kept Gill company during an unbroken stand of 87 that muscled his team home.
Rohit’s costly drop
Shami had given India a dream start after Najmul Hossain Shanto opted to bat, accounting for Soumya Sarkar with the last ball of the first over, and Harshit Rana packed off Shanto in the next over. When Axar got rid of Tanzid Hasan and Mushifqur Rahim off successive deliveries in his first over, India were buzzing. That’s when Rohit threw Bangladesh a lifeline, putting down the simplest of chances to preclude prospects of an early finish.
Hridoy batted wonderfully well while the normally attacking Jaker put his head down and ground it out, keeping India at bay with commonsense and intelligence. They didn’t take the game away from India, but ensured that this wouldn’t be one-way traffic all the way, helped by further fielding lapses with Hardik Pandya dropping Hridoy on 23 and Rahul missing a stumping when Jaker had reached 24.
Brief scores
Bangladesh 228 all out in 49.4 overs (T Hridoy 100, J Ali 68; M Shami 5-53, H Rana 3-31, A Patel 2-43) lost to India 231-4 in 46.3 overs (S Gill 101*, KL Rahul 41*, R Sharma 41; R Hossain 2-38) by 6 wickets
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