ADELAIDE: Breathless at the Oval! India almost slipped on the proverbial banana peel before a fortuitous rain break worked in their favor on Wednesday night, when they scored a 5-point win (by D / L method) over Bangladesh. As their bowlers pulled things back dramatically in a reduced 16-overs game, the old Bangladeshi bugbear, pressure, hitter not done Litton Dasextraordinary effort.
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It is not easy to overshadow Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav all in one day, but that’s exactly what Litton (60 out of 27 balls; 7×4, 3×6) almost managed to pull off. When Bangladesh began the hunt for 185, it was as if Litton knew exactly when the rain was coming and exactly what he had to do.
The ferocity of his assault perhaps took the Indian pacers by surprise. By the time the rain came, seven overs had been thrown and Bangladesh was 66/0, a clear 17 over the par D / L score, with Litton out of 59 out of 26 balls. To put things in perspective, his opening partner Najmul Hossain Shanto had already only scored 7 out of 16 balls on the other side.
India started off pretty well, with Bhuvneshwar only giving away two of his first over and finding some swings right away, but Arshdeep’s left arm swing in the next over lost racing. The first ball, a touch to the side, was dug past the backward point by four. Arshdeep cut his next ball in length but passed the third, and Litton smoked it directly to the ground beyond the bowler hat. There was more drama because behind the shackles, Dinesh Karthik failed to clearly pick up an advantage behind the shackles.
Third above, Litton chased after Bhuvi – he threw one out of six, crushed one out of four in half before skillfully leading a mistake and a third short man for four more. Litton created the space of him when India jumped back a length, often loading the ground for the likes of Shami.
Fifth ball of the third over, Litton survived again, as Karthik, diving to his right, arms outstretched, was unable to snatch a hard one. It looked like this was going to be Bangladesh day.
Sixteen points came from Shami’s sixth over, Litton whipped a square, then went out to shoot for six, probably the shot of the day. Another border followed, but the 52-minute rain break blocked Bangladesh’s momentum. Their target was revised to 151 out of 16 over, meaning they now needed 85 out of 9 over. With Litton around, anything seemed possible.
This was the moment when the stars realigned the path of India. Ashwin restarted the proceedings and the outfield and court were still wet. Litton turned around for a second run and slipped. Second ball, Shanto exited, playing mid-midwicket where KL Rahul, who had regained his serve form earlier in the day, saw the Bangladeshi batters spin for a second.
Thankfully, Litton slipped again, recovered and continued, but Rahul’s creepy shot from the deep midwicket hit the stumps. Imagine the odds!
Das was sold out and Bangladesh was in panic. They played one shot too many in the middle and India spied on an opening. Hundreds of Indian fans who had lined up in the rain to leave the stadium ran back and the chants of “Vande Mataram” echoed through the Adelaide Oval. Bangladeshi fans have become eerily silent.
Eventually it shrank to 31 of the last 12 balls, with Taskin Ahmed And Nurul Hasan to the fold. Hardik Pandia ran inside, Taskin connected. Four through extra coverage. Two balls later, Taskin connects again. Six! Swung over the deep mid-wicket. Pandia stopped. Rohit Sharma approached for a midfield conference. 20 of 8 became 20 of 7 and eventually 20 of Arshdeep’s last six. It was simply too much for Bangladesh.
Previously, Virat Kohli continued his love affair with Adelaide, scoring 64 non-eliminated goals (44b; 8×4, 1×6) while KL Rahul got back in shape with 32 50 balls (3×4, 4×6). Suryakumar’s 16-ball 30 also helped India pick up the pace as they recovered from a slow start to score 184/6.
After breaking out of prison here, India (6 points) has practically made it to the semifinals. Bangladesh, meanwhile, will regret losing five wickets and scoring just 40 points out of the 34 balls they faced after Litton was sold out.
