T20 World Cup 2022: Virat Kohli & Adelaide rain gods help India overcome Bangladesh in last-ball thriller
Virat Kohli’s third fifty in four matches and a timely rain break helped India sneak past Bangladesh by five runs at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday. The Men in Blue went top of Group 2 while their eastern neighbours’ chances of advancing bleakened.
India’s opening stand again floundered, after Shakib Al Hasan opted to chase on what was a good batting wicket. But Virat Kohli continued his love affair with Adelaide and anchored the innings. He received able support from KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav, as India posted a challenging 184 for 6.
Bangladesh had to win to have a realistic shot at the knockouts. They had to get past the finish line to scotch the din around Shakib’s statement. It looked like opener Litton Das would score all the runs by himself. But the Adelaide clouds literally poured water on all the good work.
Post resumption, Bangladesh swayed like a ship in the middle of a sea storm. They started falling like nine pins, then staged a late fightback to come within sniffing distance, before failing to hit a six off the final ball.
Any contest between these two sides has an uneasy edge to it. The powerplay was just that in a nutshell. Even though only 37 runs was scored, it had all the makings of a blockbuster Test match morning. If you were at the ground in any capacity, you had to be alert. There was the ball beating the bat on numerous occasions, fielders diving across, few crunch shots. And there was Taskin Ahmed.
The burly fast bowler had taken a wicket in the very first over in each of his last three games. And the script seemed to be no different in Adelaide. Breezing in, he was hitting the hard length and beating the batters on pace and bounce. Rohit Sharma would get full marks for his intent. But everytime he slashed his willow outside off, the ball would thud into wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan’s gloves.
It would have belied everything, had Taskin not taken a wicket. He almost got one. Rohit, in a bid to break the shackles, heaved one straight down the throat of deep square leg. But Hasan Mahmud dropped a dolly. Taskin (0 for 15) would have banged his head on a wall, had there been any. But such was his impact that Shakib completed the 27-year-old's quota within the seventh over.
Mahmud, however, more than made up for the miss by having Rohit (2 off 8) caught at point in the very next over.
At the other end, the Adelaide sun, on its way down, finally seemed to shine on KL Rahul. The plays and misses highlighted his recent struggles. But the four sixes he creamed spoke of the calibre hiding in the pale shadow. He slapped Shakib for a double to get to his first half-century of the tournament off 31 deliveries. But the tables turned immediately after, as his lap shot ballooned up to short fine.
However, this is exactly what Rahul Dravid meant when he okayed slow starts in this tournament. After a timid first six overs, India raced to 86 for 2 at the halfway mark.
Suryakumar Yadav continued from….well, he never left. His surgeon-esque precision, coupled with some wayward bowling, set the ball rolling for another episode of the latest ‘bromance’ series. While SKY hit the gaps, Virat Kohli just turned over the strike. The former peppered the off-side boundary thrice in the 13th over as Hasan Mahmud was profligate of not bowling to his packed leg-side field.
Shakib had earlier expressed his exasperation by needlessly hitting the stumps. It was as if the fortunes of Bangladesh depended solely on him. And he lived up to the expectations by castling the in-form Surya (30 off 16) and paving the way for Hardik Pandya’s (5 off 6) dismissal.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was batting like one of the automatic cars going around. He counter-attacked Taskin in the middle of that breathtaking spell. He then played the ‘Laxman’ to Surya’s ‘Ram’, before finally unfurling his death-overs genius.
The Indian fans celebrated Kohli’s (64* off 44) 36th T20I fifty off 37 balls, but Bangladesh stemmed the run-flow by taking out Dinesh Karthik (7 off 5) and Axar Patel (7 off 6). The former India skipper, though, once again typified the art of batting deep. He spoiled Hasan Mahmud’s (3 for 47) figures by swivelling for a four and then hitting a six straight back over.
The confidence rubbed off on Ravichandran Ashwin (13* off 6) as well. The veteran off spinner used his short-ball practice to hit Shoriful Islam (0 for 57) for a six, followed by a boundary, as the total surged to 184 for 6 – India’s highest at this World Cup.
Litton Das lights up Adelaide with quickfire fifty
Bangladesh had to win to keep their realistic hopes of qualifying alive. And Litton Das owned up to the task. Promoted to open the batting – Soumya Sarkar was replaced by Shoriful – the reserve keeper came out all guns blazing. So much so that Rohit had to take off the in-form Arshdeep Singh after just a solitary over. Das hit the left-arm quick for three boundaries, before plundering 15 runs off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s second over.
Sometimes when you have your head in the right place, you enjoy the rub of the green as well. Litton Das survived a run-out, a dropped chance by DK (albeit a tough one), but there was no stopping him. He didn't play any rash shots either. Having a deep point and a deep square leg constantly in place, the 28-year-old was just playing the field.
Najmul Hossain Shanto was a mere spectator at the other end. In the powerplay score of 60, Shanto managed just 4 off 12 balls while Das brought up his first fifty of the tournament off just 21 deliveries.
When nobody from the opposition could, the maverick rain gods in Adelaide put a stop to Das’ exhilarating strokeplay. Along with umbrellas, people were beavering away with the DLS sheets and calculators out. Play was held up for about 50 minutes and the target was revised to 151 from 16 overs. But what that meant was, the required rate climbed up from 9.15 to 9.45.
Any disruption can be a huge deterrent for a batter, especially for someone like Das who was operating in the fast lane. He even needed medical attention on his left wrist after slipping and falling while turning for a double off the first ball off Ashwin’s over.
But it still needed something special to send him back. And KL Rahul conjured that moment of magic. Swooping in from deep mid-wicket, he threw down the stumps at the non-strike end to bring the curtains down on Litton Das’ superlative 27-ball 60.
The frustration of the rain break, and the ensuing breaks in momentum and concentration, seemed to have a cascading effect on Bangladesh’s chase. They were reduced from 84 for one to 108 for six - losing five wickets for a mere 24 runs. India’s seamers also deserved plaudits for bowling to their field.
Nurul Hasan (25* off 14) and Taskin Ahmed (12* off 7) gave a late scare with a partnership of 37 runs off just 19 balls. But Arshdeep (2 for 38) served his death bowling duties to perfection. With 20 runs to get off the last over, a six off the second delivery sent tremors among the Indian fans. But the southpaw stuck to his strengths, started targeting the blockhole, as Bangladesh fell short by 5 runs.