India 196/5 (Hardik 50*, Tanzim 2-32) defeated Bangladesh 146 for 8 (Shanto 40, Kuldeep 3-19, Bumrah 2-13) by 50 runs
Initial puzzle
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s partnership has won India many matches but in this T20 World Cup, they have not been able to get going yet. There was also a moment of confusion while running between the wickets, Rohit was not sure whether there was a run to the right of midwicket or not. This happened intermittently but eventually he scored the run. The team is hoping that the same will happen to them as the tournament progresses because having them together in the top order is giving India the opportunity to include six batsmen in their middle order. This advantage is helping them to put up par scores in difficult conditions.
The bright side of Bangladesh
Tanjim Hasan did as much as he could to upset that plan. He was Bangladesh’s best bowler and he earned that position by doing what a big hitter hates. He was unpredictable. Kohli ran to meet him, but he batted with a change of pace and got him out. Suryakumar Yadav managed to hit a six off the first ball but was overwhelmed by the extra bounce off the next. Tanjim’s slower balls were sticking to the pitch and behaving badly. And when he came up in pace, he made sure to hit the pitch hard to vary the bounce.
India’s counter attack
Rishabh Pant started with a bang. After India fell from 71 for 1 to 77 for 3, he went nine balls without a boundary. Sometimes, in good batting conditions, that’s the price you pay. These were not good batting conditions. The pitch and outfield were slow. They couldn’t wait till the death overs to make up the difference. Fully aware of this, Pant, who had reached 12 off 15 balls, breathed life into it. A left-hander’s cover drive is usually a thing of beauty, but what Mustafizur had to endure was something else. It was power reduced to its purest essence. It was scary. Pant hit five boundaries in eight balls and fell trying to hit another boundary.
the highlight
Rishad Hossain will not get another chance. Wrist spinners are not valued in Bangladesh culture, so he had to wait (even though the rest of the world has made it clear he is a game-changing player), but he has arrived at this T20 World Cup as their most exciting cricketer. By dismissing Pant he gave Bangladesh his best game of the game – 2.4 overs of singles and dots between the 12th and 15th overs. He also took two wickets, both of whom tried to attack him. Pant caught off a reverse sweep and Dube bowled from neck and crop. He may have conceded a few runs, but he never backed down. Not even when he had to bowl one of the death overs.
Fifties
Hardik rescued India from defeat for the second time. They were 120 for 4 at the start of the 15th over. He was 6 off 7 balls. Then he got a gift from Mahedi Hasan – a long stride with space to free the arms – and that was it. A lot of his power game comes from having incredible strength in his core and his forearms. That is why he is also able to hit yorkers for boundaries. That is why he doesn’t always need to swing the bat full. That is why he has to be a little more adventurous than he allows himself to be now. Though he only came on in the 12th over, and by the 18th had faced only 18 balls, his ability to reach boundaries – each of the four that came in the previous two overs were not from his bat – helped him score a half-century.
It was an innings India could never have imagined. The numbers prove it. Before this, in their entire history of T20 international cricket, they had scored more than 196 runs on Saturday, with none of their top five batsmen scoring a half-century. They are usually like a freight train, starting slow but gradually picking up speed. In this World Cup, they are getting a new identity. Four of the seven batsmen who took the field scored at a strike rate of 150 or more. 28 balls was the longest anyone played in the middle as everyone was trying to take risks.
Pursuance
Bangladesh’s opening partnership had only managed 13 runs in the previous five innings. Given how crucial chasing big targets is, they were already at a hurdle. Tanzid Hasan, dismissed for two consecutive ducks, was dismissed for less than a run a ball. Liton Das couldn’t survive the powerplay though, getting dismissed by a superb slower ball from Hardik, who also made sure to pull the offbreak out of the right-hander’s hitting arc, forcing a mis-hit that was caught at deep midwicket.
The batting side, which was 67 for 2 after 10 overs, should have put up a fight but Bangladesh lost Kuldeep Yadav and never recovered. The googly had Tanzid stunned for 29 off 31 balls. The legbreak had Tauheed Hridaya LBW off a slog sweep. And finally, when Shakib Al Hasan was trying to hit him out of the ground, he did well. A slight wide shift of line outside off stump disrupted the left-hander’s hitting arc and had him caught at cover.
Bangladesh played more balls than India in this game – 49 to 48 – but most of those deliveries were swung in panic. It shows that clarity is very important in T20 cricket. Kuldeep refused to let them do that as they could not get the ball out of his hand. Jasprit Bumrah also played his part, bowling 15 dots out of his 24 deliveries and taking two wickets.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
