Bangladesh won the toss on Thursday and decided to bat first, with regular captain Shakib Al Hasan missing out due to an injury. The opening pair of Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das began slowly but picked up the pace after the fifth over.
Captain Nazmul Shanto and Mehidy Hasan Miraz departed soon after. Litton Das fell on 66 as Bangladesh got reduced to 137 for four at one stage. Seasoned campaigner Mushfiqur Rahim contributed with a gritty 38, completing 1,000 runs in the World Cup in the meantime.
Pacers shipped in with wickets during the fag end, but it was Mahmudullah’s late onslaught that kept them in the game. Bangladesh scored 256/8 in the first innings.
Indian openers were back to doing what they do best – hitting from ball one. While Captain Rohit Sharma took the onus earlier, smashing everyone for straight-batted fours, young Gill pulled up his socks sooner. Hasan Mahmud dismissed Rohit, caught in deep square leg on 48.
Virat Kohli took advantage of the two no-balls straightaway, scoring ten, including a poster-worthy six over long-on.
Shubman Gill completed his maiden Cricket World Cup fifty but fell to Miraz on 53.
Kohli and Shreyas Iyer stitched a 46-run stand, keeping India ahead in the chase. However, Iyer’s mistimed shot to deep mid-wicket resulted in his wicket on 19.
By then, Virat had also completed his fifty against Bangladesh in a CWC game.
Alongside KL Rahul, who continued his good run, Kohli upped the ante and smashed heft blows to come closer to his first hundred of this World Cup. With him scoring almost all the runs in the end, Kohli completed his 48th ODI hundred and helped India beat Bangladesh by seven wickets.
