- India bat first and score 302-6, Bangladesh all out for 193
- Rohit Sharma leads India’s charge to last four with superb hundred
- Match report: India prove too strong for Bangladesh
- Exclusive: England door left ajar for Pietersen after promise of talks
So India march on. Who would have thought, six weeks ago, that they’d cruise so effortlessly into the semi-finals, taking 70 wickets to boot, and with their seamers leading the charge? Well, most serious India-watchers to be honest. Their ability to rise to the occasion in the big tournaments has served them brilliantly in this World Cup, and was in full view again today, albeit against a Bangladesh side whose shortcomings – chiefly here an inability to retain full control after a promising start in the field – were clinically exposed. The last 15 overs of India’s innings – Rohit’s expertly paced and technically accomplished hundred being supported by another excellent display of ODI batting from Raina – decided this game, and meant Bangladesh’s chase always looked a little beyond them.
None of their batsmen could build on decent starts, and they weren’t able to build long partnerships or force the pace when they needed to against a brilliantly-blended India attack. But Bangladesh have brought a lot to this World Cup, fully deserved their quarter-final place and must look to build on their progress in this tournament, even if there was to be no repeat of their 2007 upset here.
45th over: Bangladesh 193 all out. Sabbir pulls Yadav down to deep mdiwicket for one. And we have a bit of sledging/banter/pantomime histrionics, as Yadav looks to pay back new batsman Rubel for some of their fierier exchanges earlier in the day. So he peppers Rubel with short stuff, and then snaffles him, with one that zips onto the bat quickly and it’s swiped to midwicket for a simple catch. The end is near, and Sabbir knows it, holing out with some inevitability to square leg off the last ball of the over. India have won emphatically – they look a near-flawless side at the moment.
Rubel is given the short sharp treatment and it works – he swipes into the air and is caught at midwicket
44th over: Bangladesh 192-8, Sabbir 29 (target 303) Mohit continues, bamboozling Sabbir completely with a slower ball outside off-stump that the batsman hacks at but is nowhere near. He gets hold of the next ball, a pull to mid-on for one. But that only brings Mortaza onto strike, and he plays a timid, tail-enders shot to a good full seam-up delivery outside off-stump that is edged to Dhoni for a simple catch.
A full-ish, fast delivery from Sharma outside off-stump induces a regulation, and fairly sloppy, edge to the keeper. Looks like India are going to take 10 wickets for a seventh consecutive game after all then.
43rd over: Bangladesh 189-7, Sabbir 27 (target 303) As Nasser Husain reminds us, Bangladesh do at least have the challenge of being the first of India’s opponents in this tournament not to have been bowled out by them. They’ve been doing OK in that respect, though Nasir – who’s scored freely – takes risks here and eventually perishes. He dances down the pitch and slash-edges Jadeja down to third man for four but his next shot is properly well executed, a thumping sweep over midwicket for four. Before he goes off the last ball of the over, cover driving straight to Ashwin. So Bangladesh’s top scorer is gone.
42nd over: Bangladesh 179-6, Sabbir 27, Nasir 26 (target 303) Dhoni is keeping all his bowlers busy, giving Mohit another workout. Nasir takes him on though, pulling him in front of square for a four. This prompts Mohit to pitch it a bit shorter, and Nasir duly gets out of the way of consecutive bouncers. Ganguly is rightly pondering why the local turnout at the MCG appears so low – it does seem a bit Euro 96, in that regard.
41st over: Bangladesh 174-6, Sabbir 27, Nasir 21 (target 303) Jadeja comes back and Nasir has a go straight away, taking a step and hammering him down the ground for four. But it’s four of only five from the over. This game is meandering to its inevitable conclusion, the between-overs PA music easily drowning out any excited crowd noise.
40th over: Bangladesh 169-6, Sabbir 27, Nasir 16 (target 303) Dhoni rotates again, and brings back Ashwin, who continues to be tidy and offers little room to the batsmen. Sabbir takes a glided single towards the vacant slip area, Nasir pushes one more and his partner does likewise with a legside flick before Nasir tries to cut loose but his horribly dropped at backward point by Dhawan, who looks cheerfully apologetic.
39th over: Bangladesh 165-6, Sabbir 25, Nasir 14 (target 303) Shami again, and more back of a length stuff, again. There’s a rare misfield in the deep from Dhawan as Nasir capitalises and scrambles three, but overall there’s only four from the over. So just the 138 needed from 11 overs.
38th over: Bangladesh 161-6, Sabbir 24, Nasir 11 (target 303) Sabbir deftly glides a short one – yep, one of those again – from Yadav down to third man. Nasir does something similar, in a slightly more square area past gully with a lofted cut. But they’re the only scoring shots of the over. Yadav hasn’t done much wrong tonight.
37th over: Bangladesh 159-6, Sabbir 23, Nasir 10 (target 303) Shami returns to the attack – and with a high wide that isn’t very handsome. He’s not quite got his radar right initially, which enables the batsmen to gather a couple of easy singles before Nasir cracks a nice four behind backward point. He’d have wanted another one, too, off the last ball of the over, an ugly full toss that he can only bat back to mid-off. “Let’s have a look at a few Bangladeshi fans,” says Ganguly in the commentary box, “because they tend to get emotional...” as the camera pans across a group of perfectly stoical, calm-looking Bangladesh supporters.
36th over: Bangladesh 152-6, Sabbir 22, Nasir 5 (target 303) Any hopes Bangladesh might have had that the powerplay would signal an acceleration are dashed immediately, when Mushfiqur horribly mistimes one that leaps onto him a touch and Dhoni catches the resultant skyer. The new batsman Nasir Hossain gets off the mark with an edged four and adds another glided one. Sabbir then executes a proper pull shot, getting on top of another short-ish ball and clattering it to the long-on boundary. He follows this up with four more, a fine cut shot from a looser delivery. They might as well have fun if they’re going out. But there’s no disguising the palpable disappointment that we’ve had another mismatch here, just not as big as yesterday’s.
The first ball of the powerplay is miscued high into the air by Mushfiqur for Dhoni to catch easily. Game over.
35th over: Bangladesh 139-5, Mushfiqur 27, Sabbir 14 (target 303) Jadeja continues, and he and his team are happy to concede singles, which they do from each delivery of the over. This would be good middle-overs nurdling in an early-May, Old Cricket, Benson & Hedges Cup game, 20 years ago, but it’s nowhere near enough now. Drinks time.
34th over: Bangladesh 133-5, Mushfiqur 24, Sabbir 11 (target 303) The slight increase in the scoring rate prompts Dhoni to bring Yadav back into the attack. Sabbir steals a single to mid-off, Mishfiqur hacks an inside edge down to third man, Yadav sends down a rare wayward ball that is called wide, Sabbir cuts for two and drives for one, before the bowler responds to this audacious modest scoreboard-rotating with a short sharp bouncer. Six from the over but it’s in the bag for India and they know it.
33rd over: Bangladesh 127-5, Mushfiqur 23, Sabbir 7 (target 303) Jadeja continues, Bangladesh at least try to open their shoulders, Mushfiqur lofting him into the offside for two as a warm-up shot for an assertive swipe on the legside for four.
Sunil Gavaskar is in the commentary box now, which is all the tenuous excuse I need to post up this gem, which is kind of all about him
32nd over: Bangladesh 119-5, Mushfiqur 16, Sabbir 6 (target 303) They’re rattling through these overs like a big rattling thing. Bangladesh nudge some scurried singles at least (though there was a two available from one of them), from one of which Dhoni makes an absurd exaggerated comedy appeal for a run out with the batsman well home.
31st over: Bangladesh 114-5, Mushfiqur 13, Sabbir 4 (target 303) Sabbir pushes Jadeja down the ground for one, and brings Mushfiqur on strike. At last, he has a go, swiping the bowler over wide mid-on for the first boundary since the 21st over. Another pushed single completes a slightly more productive over for Bangladesh.
30th over: Bangladesh 107-5, Mushfiqur 7, Sabbir 3 (target 303) Ashwin continues, Sabbir plods forward and defends, but manages one expansive effort – a sweep out to deep midwicket for two. But it’s the only one.
29th over: Bangladesh 105-5, Mushfiqur 7, Sabbir 1 (target 303) Jadeja’s third over brings him his first wicket, Shakib giving Shami a simple catch that he doesn’t even have to move to gather. Sabbir gets off the mark with a single but that’s the only scoring shot from the over. This is beginning to feel like a bit of a choke from Bangladesh. Would England have done better against in this match? (Clue: the answer is “no”)
A simple, poor dismissal – Shakib mistiming a cut off Jadeja straight to backward point.
28th over: Bangladesh 104-4, Shakib 10, Mushfiqur 7 (target 303) An estimated 50,000 are in the ground today, and they’re generating a proper atmosphere, yet so vast is the MCG that they still look like they’re rattling around it a little. The sound is more contented hubbub at the moment though, as the India-fan dominated crowd watch their spinners continue to keep it tight. Two flicked singles are all that the becalmed Bangladesh batsmen can get – we’ve been four-less for seven overs now.
27th over: Bangladesh 102-4, Shakib 10, Mushfiqur 6 (target 303) The all-spin chapter of the innings continues, with the canny Jadeja. Neither batsmen can work him away properly though – only two singles from the over. These are a good pairing, who’ve shown that in this World Cup, but this is a hell of an ask now.
26th over: Bangladesh 100-4, Shakib 9, Mushfiqur 5 (target 303) Mushfiqur makes room to cut Ashwin past gully for two, and then mows him past mid-on for a couple more. The hundred comes up – Bangladesh basically need to more than double their scoring rate in the second half of their innings.
25th over: Bangladesh 95-4, Shakib 9, Mushfiqur 1 (target 303) Jadeja is finally brought into the attack. “He’s pretty accurate and doesn’t bowl too many wides,” says Shane Warne in the commentary box as Jadeja, er, bowls a wide, straying too far down the legside. This prompts the left-armer to come round the wicket at Mushfiqur, who gets off the mark with a square cut for a single. It’s a good, stingy over though. Damn, but this India bowling attack is good.
24th over: Bangladesh 91-4, Shakib 6, Mushfiqur 0 (target 303) A run – hurrah! Shakib grubbing one square on the offside for one. Ashwin, however, continues to be tight and it’s the only one he concedes in another over in which he finds drift and some turn as well as accuracy. “Drift” is also a fair description of what Bangladesh are doing in relation to this increasingly daunting looking target.
23rd over: Bangladesh 90-4, Shakib 5, Mushfiqur 0 (target 303) Shami continues, and he’s now looking zesty and threatening, and Bangladesh, with two new men in, are understandably watchful in a second consecutive maiden. But they can’t be for long as we approach the halfway point. Mushfiqur plays and misses at a probing fuller delivery outside off-stump and it’s a really good over from the bowler who is now the leading wicket-taker in this tournament.
22nd over: Bangladesh 90-4, Shakib 5, Mushfiqur 0 (target 303) Is it just me or is there something refreshing, by the way, about how this tournament – as with most recent England football World Cup campaigns - can breathe more easily and enjoyably now England are actually out? As with the footballers, of course, there’s a noisy off-field soap opera buzzing away, but the cricket, here and now, at the actual tournament, is going fine. India are bowling excellently now, their bowling changes and variety not letting Bangladesh settle, and that’s a maiden from Ashwin.
21st over: Bangladesh 90-4, Shakib 5, Mushfiqur 0 (target 303) Shami continues, and sticks by the tactic of banging a good few in short. Which is mostly working, though Sarkar essays a lovely lofted upper-cut high over Dhoni’s head for a welcome boundary. But it doesn’t stem the pressure, as Sarkar is out next ball, awkwardly fending off another lifter to Dhoni behind the stumps. Mushfiqur, the new batsman, begins with two dots. These two experienced hands need to put on a partnership now, or it’s all over.
The shorter bowling pays off, as Shami induces Sarkar to fend an edge down to Dhoni who gathers.
20th over: Bangladesh 86-3, Sarkar 25, Shakib 5 (target 303) India at 19 overs were only 81-2 but it’s hard to describe Bangladesh as being ahead of the game at the moment. They need a big innings and some big hitting from somewhere, and have two of their key players back in the hutch already. The batsmen can only nudge an nurdle singles off this over, from which only three come.
19th over: Bangladesh 83-3, Sarkar 24, Shakib 4 (target 303) Shami returns from the other end, and finds some variable bounce, the first ball bouncing twice en route to the keeper. Shakib mistimes two pull-shots off shorter balls and only gets two off the first and none off the second when he might have fancied more.
18th over: Bangladesh 80-3, Sarkar 24, Shakib 1 (target 303) Ashwin comes into the attack, with two left-handers in, and foxes the new batsman Shakib with a beautiful off-break that beats him all ends up. It’s a good economical over, until the last ball, which Sarkar has a go at, stepping forward, hitting against the spin, and clobbering it over midwicket for six, the first such of the innings.
17th over: Bangladesh 73-3, Sarkar 17 (target 303) Shami continues, and causes Sarkar some bother with a straight short delivery that the batsman hasn’t a hope of finding room to play properly. He misses it horribly, but tickles a single down to deep backward point for a single off the next ball. Mahmudullah is then also tested with some shorter stuff, and punished– he holes out to Dhawan, juggling on the boundary ropes, who manages to pouch it, and the dismissal is confirmed on review.
Yes it’s given, he’d just managed to take it while inside the ropes even though he’d stepped outside beforehand
Mahmudullah hooks out to just behind square leg, it’s juggled on the ropes and eventually caught but did the fielder, Dhawan, step over the line?
16th over: Bangladesh 71-2, Sarkar 17, Mahmudullah 20 (target 303) Raina had brought some desired control and economy from the north end of the ground but is effectively milked in this over. Sarkar is settling nicely now and makes room to hit him over extra-cover for four. The batsmen keep the strike rotating with singles and take eight from the over. And as if to greet a tortured ‘milking’ metaphor, the umpires call for drinks.
15th over: Bangladesh 63-2, Sarkar 11, Mahmudullah 18 (target 303) Dhoni perseveres with Mohit and is rewarded with a better over: he induces Sarkar into an unconvincing pull shot off a shorter, sharper delivery that the batsman misses completely. The shorter balls are working for Mohit here, as Sarkar abandons a pull shot off another one, which is followed by a slower, fuller delivery that Sarkar mistimes and chips towards mid-off but it just clears the fielder’s head and brings a single.
14th over: Bangladesh 61-2, Sarkar 10, Mahmudullah 17 (target 303) Bangladesh on the ones and twos: Deft paddle sweeps down to fine leg bring Mahmudullah two and one respectively off the first two balls of Raina’s over. Sarkar pushes down the ground for a single, and his partner picks up a couple more with a nudge past gully. One more single, and one dot, complete the over.
13th over: Bangladesh 54-2, Sarkar 9, Mahmudullah 11 (target 303) Dhoni rotates again and brings back Mohit from the other end, but he’s no more economical. Sarkar hacks him away for one before Mahmudullah, who had made a quiet start, opens his arms and thrashes a full delivery high and over mid-on for four. He’s rather less elegant with his next shot, another attempted hoick that he can only inside-edge down to fine leg for a single. One more for Sarkar, and a smartly-pushed single from Mahmudullah, round off the over.
12th over: Bangladesh 46-2, Sarkar 7, Mahmudullah 5 (target 303) Raina, having produced an important influential innings with that bat, has the ball at the other end. He, too, is steady and accurate, and offers no real scoring opportunities, and no runs. A maiden.
11th over: Bangladesh 46-2, Sarkar 7, Mahmudullah 5 (target 303) Dhoni can introduce spin from a position of strength now, and R Ashwin replaces the excellent Yadav at the great southern stand end. He’s tight, varied and offers Sarkar little room, but the batsman sneaks an edged single off one that breaks quite sharply from leg to off. Mahmudullah adds one more but that’s their lot from this over.
10th over: Bangladesh 44-2, Sarkar 6, Mahmudullah 4 (target 303) A welcome boundary for Bangladesh, and it’s a clever one, Sarkar upper-cutting a short ball from Mohit over the keeper for four. But there’s only one other run from the over, as Bangladesh bring a touch of caution to proceedings. By the way, re the Tweet in the 8th over: when did batsmen start being called “batters”, I must harrumphingly ask.
9th over: Bangladesh 39-2, Sarkar 1, Mahmudullah 4 (target 303) Amid some steamy hot stadium-architecture chat in the commentary box (and I agree that Sydney remains the pick of the bunch, for its blend of old and new), Yadav continues. Sarkar flicks him round the corner to get off the mark with a single, but no Bangladeshi batsman has been able to get on top of the Indian opening bowler, and it’s the only scoring stroke of the over.
8th over: Bangladesh 38-2, Sarkar 0, Mahmudullah 4 (target 303) Shami hits his straps, after an indifferent first over, with a lovely, lifting, seaming away-swinger that beats Mahmudullah all ends up. Dhoni’s brought fielders in on the one as India seek to turn the screw. Shami cedes some control though, first with a wide and then a loosener outside off stump that Mahmudullah smacks past backward point for four.
7th over: Bangladesh 33-2, Sarkar 0, Mahmudullah 0 (target 303) Big over for India – hideous one for Bangladesh. The openers content themselves with singles off each of the first two balls of Yadav’s over. And then the bowler makes the breakthrough, with the important wicket of Tamim, who was looking in fine fluent touch. Worse follows for Bangladesh as new batsman Sarkar dabs his first ball behind square on the offside, Kayes sets off, Jadeja is sharp onto the ball though and flings it instinctively, and brilliantly, back to the bowler, who breaks the stumps and Kayes has to go.
Terrible ball-watching, fine fielding. Two wickets in two balls and Bangladesh are in bother now.
Tamim drives outside off stump and edges low to Dhoni. There’s doubt about wherther it carried though, and the umpires refer it, and we hear the benefit of the TV umpire’s deliberations, bringing the cold, detached air of a fly-on-the-wall documentary to the passion of the moment. But it’s out. Big breakthrough for India.
6th over: Bangladesh 31-0, Tamim 24, Kayes 4 (target 303) Shami’s poor start leads him to be replaced by Mohit Sharma. He finds Kayes’s thick edge second ball but it floats wide of slip and down to third man for a single. Tamim fancies this bowling though – is positively flirting with it and plying it with drinks – and makes room to step forward and hammer him square on the offside for four. He pulls another short one in front of square on the legside for two and then takes a bit more of a risk with a slightly mis-hit off-drive in the air down to third man.
5th over: Bangladesh 23-0, Tamim 17, Kayes 3 (target 303) Imrul Kayes is off the mark at last, with an emphatic drive through the offside that almost reaches the boundary but is well stopped by Jadeja. Yadav is looking much the tighter of the two Indian opening bowlers though, and doesn’t give anything else away. But Bangladesh will be content with their start.
4th over: Bangladesh 20-0, Tamim 17, Kayes 0 (target 303) Fine batting, wayward bowling as Tamim unfurls a crisp cover drive down the ground for four. Emboldened, he cracks another wider ball from Shami past backward point for another boundary, and – thwack – punishes the next one too, which is too wide and full, and met with another cover drive to the ropes. They also scurry through for a single to end the over.
3rd over: Bangladesh 7-0, Tamim 5, Kayes 0 (target 303) Some exemplary new-ball bowling from Yadav - probing and varied, and rewarded with a maiden. Tamim plays and misses at a tantalising, excellent length ball just outside off-stump from Yadav. If that was an understandable nibble, his next play-and-miss – an ugly thrashing cut attempt – is a bit more reckless. The bowler doesn’t give him a sniff here, and Tamim can’t work away a couple of banged-in shorter balls either.
2nd over: Bangladesh 7-0, Tamim 5, Kayes 0 (target 303) Shami opens at the other end and starts with some looseners, one short and wide outside off stump, the other wayward down the legside and which is called wide, as is the next ball. Tamim flicks a fuller delivery away on the legside for a couple.
Talking Point klaxon! Further scrutiny of that apparent caught-behind in the previous over reveals definite sound at the moment the ball passes the bat, yet only first slip made anything of it.
1st over: Bangladesh 3-0, Tamim 3, Kayes 0 (target 303) Yadav is tossed the ball first and, with two slips in, finds a decent testing line and length from the off. Tamim gets off the mark second ball with a confident legside pull in front of square for two, and adds another when he turns one just behind square leg. Yadav slants one across Tamim with the last ball of the over, which isn’t too far from the outside edge – in fact, it alerts Snicko’s interest – but Dhoni doesn’t think it worth an appeal.
And they’re out. The Bangladesh openers, Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, are out in the middle.
Morning/afternoon/evening everyone. So Bangladesh, as expected, are up against it. If it’s been pointed out once in the last half-hour that no one’s ever successfully chased 300 at the MCG, it’s been pointed out 1,046 times, which it has. Bangladesh have at least got experience of successfully pursuing 300+ at this World Cup though, albeit only against Scotland. Though they didn’t get near a 300 target when last they played at Melbourne, against Sri Lanka in the group stages, and they may come to regret their looseness in the field in the last 15 or so overs. India’s bowling, almost uniformly excellent throughout the tournament, is unlikely to be so benevolent. They’ve had their share of luck today too though:
Nobody has ever successfully chased 300 at the MCG, and this is surely a winning position for India. But they rode their luck there a bit, with Raina surviving the closest of lbw shouts, and Rohit getting caught off a no-ball that wasn’t a no-ball. Bangladesh will angrily mutter about that decision, but they should also think about their own failings: their fielding could have been better, and probably cost 15 runs, and they lost their concentration a bit as India took the game away from them at the end there.
Tom Davies will take you through the rest of the match. All emails to tom.davies@theguardian.com please. Bye!
50th over: India 302-6 (Jadeja 23, Ashwin 3)
Rubel bowls the final over, with India aiming to reach the magic land of the triple-hundreds. And they get there, without any drama whatsoever. They needed four runs, and that’s what they got, at one a ball, from the first four deliveries, leaving themselves time for another two. Good over from Rubel, who has a fine late-overs inswinging yorker up his sleeve, as James Anderson will tell you.
49th over: India 296-6 (Jadeja 20, Ashwin 0)
The wicket comes from the last ball of the over, Dhoni - who never looked comfortable - getting a leading edge that sent the ball soaring to point. At least the fielder took the catch - Bangladesh got nothing right during the five previous deliveries.
48th over: India 283-5 (Dhoni 4, Jadeja 9)
Dhoni gets a single off the third ball, and then Jadeja gets a slight tickle on his first delivery, and the ball flies past Mushfiqur and away for four. His second delivery goes through the covers for four more. India’s mid-innings struggles seem a long way away now.
47th over: India 273-5 (Dhoni 3, Jadeja 0)
Rohit was batting just beautifully there, not just flying but positively soaring. In his final over he hit over wide long on for six, and then to square leg for four, just delicious shot-making. At which point, from the final ball of the over, he gets out.
A fantastic innings comes to an end, deceived by a slow, full delivery that flicks off his bat on its way into the stumps.
46th over: India 261-4 (Rohit Sharma 127, Dhoni 2)
Rubel’s penultimate over and after starting it with a fine yorker the second is sent flying back over his head by Rohit for six, and the next through midwicket for four. Wonderful batting. A couple of singles later, the last ball goes through the covers. Rubel’s first six overs went for 14 runs; that one went for 16.
45th over: India 245-4 (Rohit Sharma 112, Dhoni 1)
Rohit isn’t running freely, but Dhoni’s making up for it, and as Taksin bowls India run two singles and a sharp two - Rohit might have been struggling had the ball been returned to his end, rather than Dhoni’s.
5 - India have won 4 of the 6 ODIs when Rohit Sharma has hit a century; losing v Australia in January (MCG) & Zimbabwe in 2010. Balance.
44th over: India 241-4 (Rohit Sharma 109, Dhoni 0)
Raina hoists the ball towards mid-on, where the fielder runs forward, glory in his eyes. The ball lands a yard short. Another let-off, but this time not too costly, given that he goes next ball. Then off the last Sharma drives through the covers for four.
That’s a massive top edge from Raina, trying to smash the ball over midwicket but instead sending it high, high into the air. Mushfiqur runs back about 20 yards before taking it on its way down. And this time he really is out.
43rd over: India 233-3 (Rohit Sharma 104, Raina 62)
A tighter over, from Shakib. Four singles off it.
Sharma is the 2nd Indian player to score a century in a World Cup knock out match after Ganguly v Kenya in 2003 #bbccricket
42nd over: India 229-3 (Rohit Sharma 102, Raina 60)
Raina lifts the ball over square leg and away for four, very smart powerplay batting, before a couple of singles leave Rohit on strike on 99, with one ball to play. He pushes to cover, where a slight misfield helps him to a second run, and what’s more it’s a no ball because Bangladesh didn’t have enough fielders in the circle.
Raina completes another influential half-century. Bangladesh's bowling becoming like a dieting man's trousers. Increasingly loose.
41st over: India 217-3 (Rohit Sharma 97, Raina 54)
Raina reaches 50, from 46 balls. It hasn’t exactly been chanceless. Off the next ball Rohit edges past the keeper and off to the boundary, and then Raina pulls over short fine leg for four more. Bangladesh did so well for so long in this innings, and had Raina been given out lbw way back when everything might have been different, but now India have luck and two confident batsmen on their side and are rocketing to a very decent score.
@Simon_Burnton Raina saved by a milimeter of the ball, Rohit by a milimeter of the waist, though it was below waist. Luck !!
40th over: India 205-3 (Rohit Sharma 91, Raina 48)
On Sky Shane Warne is losing his rag about Bangladesh’s field placings, because they’re all too far from the bat. He’s got a point - as it stands the really good shots go for four or six, and the bad ones still get one. Still, they should have made at least one breakthrough here, as off the next ball Raina top-edges the ball just out of the reach of the fielder at midwicket. Eleven runs from the over, and India have had some luck here.
Rohit plonks a high full toss to deep square. Reprieved by a no-ball call. Looked marginal. Maybe Rohit's waist is slightly above his knees.
Rubel bowls a full toss, Rohit tries to hit it to the boundary at deep midwicket and he’s caught! But the umpire’s raised his arm and given it a no-ball for being above waist height! And the really painful thing is, it wasn’t!
39th over: India 194-3 (Rohit Sharma 89, Raina 40)
India’s batsmen let the fielders wait for them for a while. Once play restarts Sharma edges wide of first slip, and there wasn’t a slip anyway, and away for four. At which point Bangladesh bring in a slip, prompting thoughts of horses and stable doors.
And play will restart in four minutes.
38.1 overs: India 186-3 (Rohit Sharma 83, Raina 38)
Raina hits the first ball of the over to midwicket and calls two, and though he completes them safely enough, he seems to be limping at the end of it. Quite what that means we don’t yet know, as it promptly starts to rain and the players leave the field.
38th over: India 184-3 (Rohit Sharma 83, Raina 36)
Rubel Hossain, Bangladesh’s best bowler, returns to try to control India’s run-splurge, and fails. His first two go for singles, and he then bowls a full-toss just wide of leg stump which Raina reacts to smartly to flick to fine leg for four. That turns out to be the only delivery that doesn’t go for one. Nine off the over.
37th over: India 175-3 (Rohit Sharma 81, Raina 29)
Having survived his lbw scare Raina has located the accelerator and now has his foot jammed hard against it. Shakib bowls his spin, and this first ball disappears over long-on and into the crowd for six. Then after a single Sharma goes down on one knee to sweep over the close fielders and away to the long leg boundary for four more.
36th over: India 164-3 (Rohit Sharma 77, Raina 22)
The batting powerplay is signalled, and Raina gives himself some room before boshing over the covers for a tasty four. A couple of deliveries later Raina deflects the ball to the boundary at square third man, perfectly dissecting two fielders. Mortaza’s clearly a bit miffed that the ball reached the rope, and glares at the fielders involved theatrically for a while.
35th over: India 155-3 (Rohit Sharma 77, Raina 13)
Nasir bowls his penultimate over, and India take a few singles. “I meant Steven Wright, the dry-as-tinder comedian, not that other buffoon,” clarifies Ian Forth. Yes, that makes a lot more sense.
34th over: India 152-3 (Rohit Sharma 76, Raina 11)
Later, Sharma deflects the ball deliberately through a vacant slip area for four. Most of us are still coming to terms with what a close and possibly incredibly important, even decisive decision that was
That couldn’t have been closer. The ball pitched outside leg stump, but by a millimetre. By a stitch on a seam. Ooof. It would have dismantled the stumps as well.
... there’s no denying the ball hit the pad. It certainly didn’t hit the bat. But it pitched outside leg!
Bangladesh hope so. The on-field umpire didn’t think so.
33rd over: India 147-3 (Rohit Sharma 72, Raina 10)
India have stepped it up a little since the drinks break a few overs back (and Bangladesh have stepped it down a little, as well). Just singles, though, from Nasir’s latest over. Four of them.
This is how you celebrate a wicket! WATCH: http://t.co/LWKuPlcn1g#INDvBANpic.twitter.com/QStnpEwzpm
32nd over: India 143-3 (Rohit Sharma 70, Raina 8)
Mortaza, probably the weakest of the bowlers so far, returns and his first delivery, like the first of his previous spell (also the first of the match), goes for four, cut by Sharma. Later some pretty ordinary (cricket speak for downright useless) fielding helps to turn a single into a three.
31st over: India 132-3 (Rohit Sharma 60, Raina 8)
Nasir’s seventh over, and five singles and a wide get the scoreboard a-tickin’.
30th over: India 126-3 (Rohit Sharma 57, Raina 6)
Taksin gives Raina some width, tempts him to drive and finds the edge, but the ball flies wide of the first and only slip and to the rope. “Slightly disappointing to read a tweet from the elegant VVS Laxman,” writes Ian Forth. “Going with ‘2’ rather than ‘to’ reminds me of Steve Wright discussing abbreviating ‘June’ to ‘Jun’: ‘You have to be in one hell of a hurry.’” Is that Steve Wright the British disk jockey of Radio 2 afternoon-slot fame, or another one? Because I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the philosophising of that Steve Wright quoted anywhere. Still, it’s a very fair point.
29th over: India 120-3 (Rohit Sharma 56, Raina 1)
There’s a delay in the middle of the over while Aleem Dar comes to terms with the fact he’s been stung by a wasp (there’s a bit of guesswork involved in that diagnosis, but it seems a decent guess, given the way he suddenly started cradling his neck). The doctor eventually comes out to take a look at him, but doesn’t do anything before running off again. Nasir bowls a wayward one that flicks Raina’s pad on its way down the leg side and to the boundary.
28th over: India 114-3 (Rohit Sharma 55, Raina 0)
Shot! The first delivery of Taskin’s fifth over provoked probably the best shot of the last hour, Sharma flicking the ball through midwicket for four. Beautiful stuff. The last ball of the over brings Rahane’s wicket, from a considerably less impressive stroke.
Well made 50 by @ImRo45 .Imp for him to convert this into a big 100. We know how quickly he changes his tempo once he gets 2 a 50. #CWC2015
Another one’s gone! Rahane tries to push over mid-off but it’s a weak stroke, and the fielder runs round to his left to take the catch!
27th over: India 108-2 (Rohit Sharma 50, Rahane 18)
Rohit has a half-century, off 70 balls. India went after Shakib a bit there, but didn’t quite get their timing or theiraimingright, and only got three singles.
26th over: India 105-2 (Rohit Sharma 48, Rahane 17)
India reached 50 in the 10th over, and 100 in the 26th. But finally they score a boundary, their first for approximately ever, Rahane deflecting the ball in the air to the space where slip had been until just moments earlier (it was the very first slip-free delivery).
25th over: India 99-2 (Rohit Sharma 48, Rahane 11)
Halfway through India’s innings, and they’ve not yet reached triple figures. Though to be fair they’re not far off. Shakib’s first three deliveries bring singles, and his next three, well, don’t.
24th over: India 96-2 (Rohit Sharma 47, Rahane 10)
Taksin’s third over yields a single single, and Bangladesh are visibly in a hurry to scoot through their overs as quickly as possible. It’s 4.20pm in Melbourne, with rain expected between 5 and 6pm and a good chance of it continuing for a while. If necessary they’ll come back tomorrow, when it is expected to be cooler but brighter and a great deal drier, but Bangladesh want to take advantage of the pressure they have put India under here, before the weather alleviates it.
23rd over: India 95-2 (Rohit Sharma 47, Rahane 9)
Some attempt at acceleration here from India, with five runs and a bonus leg bye coming from Shakib’s over, though they continue to caress and nurdle their way to the occasional single, rather than hitting anything particularly hard.
22nd over: India 89-2 (Rohit Sharma 45, Rahane 5)
Another over, another scant handful of singles. Three this time, and the last five overs have yielded 11 runs. The cameras pan upwards to show an increasingly dark and threatening sky.
21st over: India 86-2 (Rohit Sharma 43, Rahane 4)
Few thought India would lose this, and they might still be favourites to win it, but they’re certainly not coasting. They’re in a proper fight now, and Bangladesh’s odds have got to be tumbling with every passing over. Two more singles from Shakib’s latest.
20th over: India 84-2 (Rohit Sharma 42, Rahane 3)
Rubel continues, with two slips in. Three singles, and one that kept low to Rahane, clipped the bottom of his bat and bounced into the ground and over the stumps. India have scored one boundary (a six) in the last 11 overs, while Rubel’s five overs so far have cost just 11 runs.
19th over: India 81-2 (Rohit Sharma 41, Rahane 1)
Real pressure on India now, having scored 30-2 from the last nine overs. Shakib keeps the pressure up, conceding two singles.
18th over: India 79-2 (Rohit Sharma 40, Rahane 0)
Rubel’s first delivery is too short, bounces too high and the umpire tells him to have another go, a poor start to what becomes an excellent over. Kohli’s record against these opponents before today could hardly be bettered: six innings, five of them more than 50, three of them more than 100. And now, one of them of three.
Full and wide from Rubel, Kohli edges it and his innings is over after just eight balls! And this statistic won’t look quite so good now:
126.5 - @imVkohli's average of 126.5 v Bangladesh is the highest any player holds against an opponent, (500 runs scored). Confidence.
17th over: India 78-1 (Rohit Sharma 40, Kohli 3)
Kohli comes in and pushes his first ball into the overs for two. A third of the way through India’s innings, this continues to be an intriguing and really quite tense match.
The TV umpire will not have many easier decisions to make. The batsman comes forward to attack Shakib, misses the ball and is punished for it.
Bangladesh are celebrating. The batsman looks disappointed. The umpire goes upstairs ...
16th over: India 72-0 (Rohit Sharma 39, Dhawan 28)
A big appeal, as Rubel bowls fast and short and Dhawan swings at it. The umpire shakes his head, and after a quick discussion Bangladesh decide not to review it. Snicko shows that to be a fine decision. Didn’t stop them getting very excited for a while, mind. Every delivery after that one (two of them) yields a single. And the players are now taking a drink.
15th over: India 70-0 (Rohit Sharma 38, Dhawan 27)
Six runs! From one ball! It’s the last one of Nasir’s over, just a single preceding it, and Rohit takes a few steps forward before hitting straight, back over the bowler, the ball landing a foot beyond the rope.
14th over: India 63-0 (Rohit Sharma 32, Dhawan 26)
Rubel bowls, and concedes four singles. The last five overs have gone for 4-4-1-3-4, and this feels like a bit of a lull. It’s now pretty cloudy in Melbourne - perhaps Rahul’s promised storm is blowing in early?
13th over: India 59-0 (Rohit Sharma 30, Dhawan 24)
Nasir returns, from the other end. The flags at the MCG seem to be flapping horizontally, so there’s clearly enough of a breeze for it to make a difference. He concedes three singles, and India, having scored a single boundary in the seventh over, the eighth and the ninth, haven’t managed one since.
2 - This is the 2nd time in India's last 11 CWC fixtures that their opening partnership has passed 50. Stand.
12th over: India 56-0 (Rohit Sharma 28, Dhawan 23)
Rubel Hossain is introduced to the fray, and after conceding a single from his fourth delivery he slides one across Dhawan, who pushes at it uncomfortably and misses completely.
11th over: India 55-0 (Rohit Sharma 27, Dhawan 23)
Mahmudullah, star of Bangladesh’s tournament so far (though not with a ball in his hands) does some bowling. He starts with a full toss that Dhawan should have sent steepling over some distant boundary, but instead cross-batted unconvincingly back to the bowler. Still, five runs come off the over, the highlight being Sharma’s shovel to deep square leg, where the ball is well fielded a couple of yards from the rope.
10th over: India 51-0 (Rohit Sharma 24, Dhawan 22)
Singles from the first three deliveries bring up 50 for India, though Nasir has a very sharp caught-and-bowled chance (it would have been one of the all-time greats had he somehow held it, diving to his right with the ball landing level with his toes, just a foot or so away) from the last of those. Another single follows off the fifth.
9th over: India 47-0 (Rohit Sharma 22, Dhawan 20)
Mortaza’s bowling hasn’t been particularly fast or especially threatening, and Dhawan pulls the first into the air off his hip, safely over midwicket, for two, and thumps the next through midwicket for four. He next ball also looked ripe for smiting, but the batsman doesn’t get this one right, and it clips the bottom of his bat on its way through, and after that there’s no more scoring.
8th over: India 41-0 (Rohit Sharma 22, Dhawan 14)
Dhawan takes a single, allowing Sharma to slap Nasir’s final delivery over extra cover for four. Lovely stuff.
7th over: India 36-0 (Rohit Sharma 18, Dhawan 13)
Mortaza continues, and after Rohit takes a single Dhawan cuts past point for four, a lovely shot. Here’s an update from someone at the ground. The MCG is some way from full, but nevertheless electric, it seems.
This is incredible. Indian fans cheering every run like it's a century. What an atmosphere #CWC15#INDvsBAN@cricketworldcup
6th over: India 28-0 (Rohit Sharma 17, Dhawan 6)
Nasir Hossain bowls, and slows things down a bit, in more ways than one. The batsmen grab a single each.
5th over: India 26-0 (Rohit Sharma 16, Dhawan 5)
“I’d just like to flag the weather,” warns Rahul Singh, who is sitting in an office near the MCG, as India take a sharp single to mid-on which would have been safe enough had Shikhar Dhawan not slipped. Still, he makes it back, and then completes another sharp single next ball. Anyway, Rahul, you were saying ... “As a Melbournian, I can report that it is common place at this time of year for us to experience seemingly perfect days such as this, followed by storms that roll up in the blink of an eye at around 5 or 6pm. That’s the forecast for this evening and it is usually spot on. It means this is a crucial start, Bangladesh need early wickets to slow down India and to put doubt in their minds when the rain comes.”
4th over: India 23-0 (Rohit Sharma 15, Dhawan 4)
Sharma has started the day extremely well, and he sends Taskin’s second delivery, banged in short, rocketing past backward square leg and away for four, and then he flicks another off his pads into a similar area for a couple. But in between he’s tempted into a push outside off stump to a ball that just moves away, and is relieved to see it miss his bat by an inch or so.
3rd over: India 17-0 (Rohit Sharma 9, Dhawan 4)
We might get quite a few runs here. Like Dhawan’s shot from the last ball of over two, Rohit’s from Mortaza’s first ball is nicely timed but little more than a gentle push, yet off it rockets, down the ground to the long-on boundary. Finally, from the final delivery of over two, we get some non-boundary scoring, Sharma deflecting the ball safely, low past second slip to third man.
2nd over: India 12-0 (Rohit Sharma 4, Dhawan 4)
Taskin takes over two and it’s a pretty good one - a couple of well-directed bouncers, and otherwise sliding the ball across the left-handed Shikhar Dhawan. Then the last ball is pushed through the covers for four.
1st over: India 8-0 (Rohit Sharma 4, Dhawan 0)
Mortaza bowls the first over, and the opening delivery is full and wide and powered to the boundary at backward point. His third delivery as very much better, heading towards off stump before fading away, but then he slides one down the leg side, flicking Rohit’s thigh pad on its way past Rahim for four leg byes.
Right, everyone’s out and ready for cricket. Let’s play.
Both anthems were written by the same guy, Rohit Singh and Raj Iyer both email to inform me. Nice fact!
Mortaza is himself the one change to Bangladesh’s line-up, incidentally, having recovered from the injury that kept him out of the New Zealand match.
The players are out, and currently enjoying Bangladesh’s national anthem. And very fine it is too.
And name an unchanged team. “There’s hope of improvement everywhere. We may be a good side, we may be playing good cricket, but there’s still hope of improvement,” says MS Dhoni.
Mashrafe Mortaza says they too would have batted first, had they won the toss.
A little pre-match tweetage. Firstly the MCG looking delightful today:
The @MCG is set for a massive #INDvBAN showdown today! LIVE: http://t.co/00SlRpEfKU#INDvBAN#cwc15https://t.co/OvzvH26rti
8 - Eight of the last 10 completed One Day Internationals between these teams have been won by the chasing team. Carrot.
Good morning/evening/whatever world!
So far in this tournament India have won every game and bowled out every opponent, a surge of form that few anticipated but that will surely take them at least one more step towards retaining the World Cup. But that’s not to simply dismiss Bangladesh: there was nothing fluky about theirqualification for the quarter-finals, and back-to-back centuries from Mahmudullah against England and New Zealand have reminded everyone that they’re not to be taken lightly, but though nobody’s expecting this match to be ludicrously one-sided, nearly everyone is expecting the scales of cricketing justice to tip eventually in India’s favour.
Simon will be here shortly. In the meantime, here is Dileep Premachandran’s match preview:
In March 2007, soon after India’s cricketers were knocked out of the World Cup in the first round, a TV crew from Trans World Sport interviewed a young cricketer in Delhi. Wearing a blue T-shirt, black trackpants and with a stud in his left ear, he spoke to them in Hindi about his hopes and dreams.
“I’m basically an attacking batsman,” he said. “I like to chase bowlers and hit them out of the ground. It’s something I’ll try to continue to do throughout my career. Indian fans like players who are totally committed, who always try and score big, and who are filled with a fighting spirit. They’re all things I hope I have.”
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