India’s team may have advanced to the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals by the time they wake up on Sunday. They were too excellent for Bangladesh in Antigua; their 196 runs, created through a succession of lightning-fast cameos against a sluggish surface, saw them win by a margin of fifty runs. Australia and India will advance to the last four if they defeat Afghanistan.
The opening conundrum
Although their combination has helped India win several matches, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have not yet gelled at this T20 World Cup. Even as they were sprinting between the wickets, Rohit was momentarily perplexed as to whether a single had been placed on to midwicket’s right. They had a stop-start run, but finally they won. India is able to stack its middle order with six hitters when they are paired together at the top of the order, so the squad will be hoping for the similar outcome as the tournament progresses. They are posting par-plus totals in challenging circumstances thanks to that edge.
Bangladesh’s bright spot
Tanzim Hasan made every effort to thwart that scheme. He was the finest bowler for Bangladesh and he got that reputation by performing the one thing that all big hitters detest. He was erratic. Although Kohli charged at him, he gave the batter a change of speed and sent him packing. After hitting a six off the opening ball, Suryakumar Yadav was overpowered by extra bounce on the subsequent delivery. Slower balls from Tanzim grabbed and misbehaved off the field. In order to get variance in bounce, he also made sure to smash the pitch hard when he was moving at a fast speed.
India’s counterattack
It was Rishabh Pant who ignited the fire. India lost nine balls without a boundary after moving from 71 for 1 to 77 for 3. In favorable batting circumstances, that may be the cost you incur. It was not a terrific batting situation. Both the outfield and the pitch were sluggish. They had to make up the deficit before the death overs. Pant, twelve off fifteen, exploded with life, well conscious of that. Normally, a left-hander’s cover drive is breathtaking, but Mustafizur’s had to endure something different. It was power reduced to its most basic form. It was chilly. In eight balls, Pant struck five boundaries before faltering in his quest for one more.
The highlight
It is no longer possible to deny Rishad Hossain. He arrived to this T20 World Cup as Bangladesh’s most exciting player, despite the fact that the rest of the world made it clear they were game-changers, having to wait since the culture there does not value wristspinners. Bangladesh’s greatest play of the match—2.4 overs of singles and dots between the 12th and the 15th—was assured by his dismissal of Pant. In addition, he claimed two wickets off of batsmen who were trying to hit him. Pant managed to evade the reverse sweep, while Dube bowled a crop and a neck. He could have given up a couple of runs, but he never turned around. Not even in the final over he had to bowl.
The half-centurion
India was released from their second slump by Hardik. At the beginning of the fifteenth over, they were 120 for 4. He was six off seven. After that, Mahedi Hasan gave him a long hop that let him to freely extend his arms as a present, and that was all. His amazing strength in his forearms and core accounts for a large portion of his power game. He can hit even yorkers for boundaries because of this. He doesn’t always need to take a complete swing at the bat because of this. He ought to be a little more daring than he now allows himself to be because of this. His ability to reach the boundary was evident even though he was just introduced in the twelfth over and had faced just eighteen deliveries at that point.
This was an innings that India could never have imagined. The numbers supported it as well. They had only made more than 196 on Saturday, with none of their top five batsmen getting a fifty, once in their entire T20I history. Usually freight trains, they move slowly at first but gain speed with time. They are discovering who they are again in this World Cup. Among the seven hitters that faced the ball, four of them scored at a strike rate of 150 mph or higher. Everyone was looking to take chances, so the longest anyone stayed in the center was twenty-eight balls.
The chase
The opening combination for Bangladesh had managed only 13 runs in the previous five innings. They were already handicapped, given how important it is to get off to a strong start in a large chase. After two consecutive ducks, Tanzid Hasan ended with fewer than a run per ball. Hardik’s beautiful slower ball proved to be the undoing of Litton Das, who was dismissed during the powerplay. Hardik also ensured that the offbreak was dragged beyond the striking arc of the right-hand batsman, resulting in a mishit that was caught at deep midwicket.
After 10 overs, with the score at 67 for 2, the batting squad ought to have fought harder, but Kuldeep Yadav got to them and they were never able to recover. Tanzid was unprepared for the googly’s 29 off 31. Towhid Hridoy was LBW on the slog sweep after being legbroken. Finally, when Shakib Al Hasan attempted to strike him off balance, he was likewise capable of handling the situation. By just shifting the line slightly beyond the off stump, the left-hand batter’s striking arc was disrupted, resulting in his being caught at cover.
In this match, Bangladesh really attacked 49 balls compared to 48 for India, although many of those were frantic swings. It just goes to highlight how important clarity is in Twenty20 cricket. They were unable to remove the ball from Kuldeep’s grasp, thus he rejected their claim. Jasprit Bumrah contributed as well, taking two wickets and producing dots from 15 of his 24 deliveries.
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