NORTH SOUND: A combined batting effort led India to register a massive total on the board against Bangladesh in the 47th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Saturday.
Put into bat first, India finished at 196/5 in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of Hardik Pandya’s quickfire half-century.
The former champions had a decent start to their innings as their seasoned opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli recorded a 39-run opening partnership.
Rohit, who was the core aggressor of the stand, miscued one off Shakib Al Hasan and walked back after scoring 23 off 11 balls, hitting three fours and a six.
Kohli then joined forces with wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and together they raised 32 runs until the former fell victim to Tanzim Hasan Sakib on the first delivery of the ninth over.
India’s star batter scored 37 off 28 deliveries, laced up with four boundaries including three sixes.
India then sustained another blow in the same over when top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav perished for a two-ball six, bringing the total down to 77/3 in 8.3 overs.
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Following the back-to-back dismissals, Pant partnered with Shivam Dube and the duo briefly anchored the innings until the former’s dismissal in the 12th over.
Pant remained a notable run-getter for India with a 24-ball 36 which featured four fours and two sixes.
Coming out to bat at No.6, Hardik Pandya took the reigns of India’s innings and bolstered the total with belligerent hitting.
He stitched an important partnership for the fifth wicket with Shivam Dube which yielded 53 runs and lasted with the latter’s dismissal in the 18th over. Dube struck three sixes on his way to a 24-ball 34.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya kept going and continued the attack on Bangladesh bowlers to help India breach the 190-run barrier.
He top-scored for India with a 27-ball 50 with the help of four fours and three sixes.
Rishad Hossain and Tanzim Hasan Sakib bagged two wickets each for Bangladesh while Shakib Al Hasan made one scalp.
It is pertinent to mention that India is second in Group 1 of the Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 with two points while Bangladesh is at the bottom.
