Despite Shubman Gill’s (121 off 133 balls) brilliance, India slipped to a tense six-run loss in their final Super Four game versus Bangladesh at Premadasa Stadium. It was an inconsequential ODI as India and Sri Lanka had already qualified for the Asia Cup final to be played on September 17.
In tricky conditions for batting, India had to overhaul a total of 265. They started on the wrong note, with Rohit Sharma uppishly driving an out-swinger from Tanzim Hasan into the hands of the fielder stationed at cover point. Tanzim, who was a part of Bangladesh’s Under-19 World Cup winning squad in 2019-20, continued to generate swing under lights and soon castled Tilak Varma. The southpaw offered a lifted bat and paid the price.
At that crucial stage, Gill and KL Rahul strung together an alliance of 57 to prop up the innings. Rahul, though, couldn’t play freely. Ultimately, the pressure got to him as he fell to Mahedi Hasan’s accurate off-breaks. Despite losing his batting partner, Gill was able to maintain his tempo, and soon reached his fifty with a lofted shot off Mahedi.
Mehidy Hasan followed it up by winning an LBW appeal against Ishan Kishan. Kishan did place his belief in the review, but had to walk back to the hut disappointed. Suryakumar Yadav, who replaced Kishan, did essay fine sweeps, alongside the late cut, but tried one too many of those slog-sweeps and was cleaned up by Shakib al Hasan.
At the fall of Suryakumar’s wicket, Gill decided to click on the boost button, lofting Mehidy for a couple of sixes. He reached his hundred in the 39th over. In the same over, he also collected two more boundaries off Tanzim to put some pressure on Bangladesh’s bowlers.
Unfortunately for India, Gill seemed to be suffering from a bit of fatigue. In the 44th over, after cracking a six off Mahedi, he lofted one into the hands of long-off. It seemed like a tired shot. Also, credit has to go to the bowler for pushing the ball wide of off-stump. The highlight of Gill’s innings was his use of feet against the spinners, and also the way he cut from the top of the stumps.
At 209 for 7, when Gill had to trudge back to the pavilion, Bangladesh held all the aces. But once more, Axar Patel (42 off 33 balls) proved his credentials with the bat. In the 45th over, he landed a couple of big shots off Nasum Ahmed, and repeated that against Mahedi. The feature of his batting was his ability to clear the front leg and heave it through the mid-wicket and long-on regions.
With India needing 17 off the last two overs, Mustafizur Rahman’s double blow finally put paid to India’s hopes of heist. He removed Shardul Thakur with a low full toss and then used his famous off-cutter to pick up the prized scalp of Axar.
In the last over, Mohammed Shami did slog one through mid-wicket before he was run out in an attempt to take a second run, as Bangladesh sealed a consolation win.
Bangladesh posted a slightly above-par total due to the efforts of Shakib (80), Towhid Hridoy (54) and Nasum (44). At one point, Bangladesh found themselves in all kinds of trouble at 59 for 4, with Shardul, Shami and Axar sharing the scalps. Bangladesh could have been in bigger trouble, but Shakib and Towhid got a reprieve each.
One of the turning points for Bangladesh came in the 23rd over when Towhid showcased exemplary footwork to land a couple of big hits while facing Tilak. He also crunched a few eye-catching cuts. While watching Towhid, it somehow feels as if there is a bit of Mushfiqur Rahim in his batting.
Shakib, his captain, too upped the ante by thwacking Axar twice over the rope. After Shakib was dismissed by Thakur, Nasum and Mahedi (29) made useful contributions. For India, Thakur was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Shami took two. Prasidh Kirshna also made an impression by hitting the deck hard from a high release.
With an eye on the final, India made as many as five changes to the XI. After winning the toss, India also decided to bowl as they wanted to get acclimatised to the conditions under lights.