Adelaide, Nov 2 (FN Agency) India pulled off a last-ball heist with their all-round performance, especially with their fielding to knock off a dogged Bangladesh in a must-win match to keep their semifinal hopes alive in the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday. India won the match by 5 runs (DLS method) to nullify Litton Das’ fiery batting effort in a rain-shortened match as Bangladesh ended their chase at 145/6 in 16 overs. Despite fifties from KL Rahul and Virat Kohli taking India to 184/6, the run chase was under Bangladesh’s control as on-song Das guided his side to a smashing 66/0 before the rain poured down. At that point, Bangladesh were 17 runs ahead on DLS and could have been declared victorious if the rain prevailed further. But after the rain break, India managed to bounce back into the game through Arsdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya, when the match was reduced to 16 overs with a revised target of 151, which meant Bangladesh needed 85 off the last 54 balls.
Going by the stat, Bangladesh were still in the hunt for a victory, but it became very difficult for Bangladesh batters to take runs on a soggy ground. The very first ball Das faced post-rain, he slipped while going for the second run. Not taking this as a warning, Das went for the second run in the very next ball and stumbled for a fraction of seconds, but fell short of his crease and was run-out with KL affecting a brilliant direct hit. This run-out changed the complexion of the game as much-criticised Indian fielding came up shining under the lights. From there on, Bangladesh batsman skied everything to up the ante and Indian fielders, especially Suryakumar Yadav caught two of them and one by Deepak Hooda, who had come as a substitute for Hardik Pandya. Mohammad Shami removed Najmul Hossain, and Bangladesh batsman started to fall like a pack of cards. From 84 for 2 in 10 overs, Bangladesh slumped to 108/6 in 13 overs, thanks to Arshdeep and Hardik, who picked two wickets in their respective overs.
There was a late hint of a heist from Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed, but Hardik in the penultimate over and Arshdeep Singh in the last kept their nerve to ensure India didn’t suffer a defeat. Earlier, Kohli and Rahul smashed fifties to take India to a commanding total of 184/6. Rahul set the tone for India’s innings with some spectacular shots off the blocks. He was scoring run a ball but changed the gear after hammering Shoriful Islam in the 9th over by clobbering 2 sixes and a boundary. Soon Rahul raced to his fifty off 31 balls, but Shakib Al Hasan removed him immediately thereafter as he was caught by Mustafizur Rahman. Kohli also did not spare the Bangladeshi bowlers as he carried forward his good form further. He became the highest run-scorer in the history of the T20 World Cup when he completed his 16th run in this innings. Kohli scored an unbeaten 64 off 44 balls, his third fifty of this tournament. Suryakumar also looked in ominous once again but his innings was curtailed at 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 not out from just 6 deliveries to help India to a commanding total of 184/6. With a win India are placed at the top of Group 2 with 6 points in four games and net run-rate (NRR) of +0.730. India. India will take on Zimbabwe in their final Super 12 match in Melbourne on November 6. Brief Scores: India 184/6 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 64, KL Rahul 50; Hasan Mahmud 3-47) beat Bangladesh 145/6 in 16 overs (Litton Das 60, Nurul Hasan 25; Hardik Pandya 2-28, Arshdeep Singh 2-38) by 5 runs (DLS method)