India clinch thriller at Adelaide to surge to the top of Group 2

It seems that Team India is making it a habit of cutting it as close as they can as the Men in Blue prised out their third win of the 2022 T20 World Cup, pipping Bangladesh in a nail-biting finish.

In a topsy turvy affair, the pendulum swung from one side to the other and the suspense prevailed till the final ball of the game to dish out an upshot with an unwanted intervention of the Rain Gods that placed the Tigers slightly ahead in terms of the numbers.

Bangladesh won the toss and put India in to bat on a surface where there was abundance of bounce. Much to India’s woes, the ball was gripping onto the surface, making it difficult for the batters to prise out any advantage. Rohit Sharma fell early, but the former Indian captain, Virat Kohli once again came forth with brick and mortar to plug the early gaps.

It was a maiden half-century for KL Rahul in T20 World Cups as the opener finally hit his stride, taking on the Bangladesh bowlers early in the innings. With the shape of the ground being a crucial factor, Rahul put them to good use, thanks to a crackling display of strokes while Virat Kohli settled down at the other end after some early display of fireworks.

The duo stitched together a crucial stand of 67 runs for the second wicket before KL Rahul’s top-edged pull landed in the safe hands of Mustafizur Rahman. Despite the fall of Rahul, Kohli and Surya did a decent job of keeping the scorecard ticking but SKY’s ultra-aggression couldn’t get him the swing that he was looking for as he departed for 30.

The fall of Yadav led to a collapse at one end, while Virat Kohli stood tall to play some commanding strokes, dictating the narrative comfortably. Despite a late squeeze from the Bangladesh bowlers, Kohli and Ashwin powered to a surge in the dying embers of the first innings to propel India to a momentous 184.

Bangladesh were off to an absolute flyer as the Indian bowlers could hardly get hold of their counterparts. Litton Das was phenomenal with his strokeplay and put the Tigers in a comfortable position before the Rain Gods hammered the heavens open. The Men in Green and Red were 17 runs ahead of DLS par score when the game stopped.

However, after the fray resumed, the equation was shortened to 151 runs needed from 16 overs. With Bangladesh losing momentum in the break, India soon capitalized on their foe’s inexperience to navigate the choppy waters of a hiatus as the first one to depart was the menacing Litton, thanks to a laserlike effort from range executed by KL Rahul.

Shakib Al Hasan and Najmul Shanto did try to get a move going but could find very little momentum on their sides as the Indian bowlers started pulling the equation back with the needle shifting in their favour. Mohammed Shami dealt a crucial blow, claiming the big wicket of Shanto while Afif Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan fell in a span of 4 balls, jeopardizing the chase.

To add to their woes, Pandya administered a double whammy alongside Arshdeep to leave a mountain to climb for Bangladesh and the Indian bowlers were bang on their money to keep things in control and eventually ride high on that impeccable final over from Arshdeep Singh that saw him executing 4 yorkers perfectly in the 6 balls he bowled.

With this win, India climbed to the top of the table in Group 2 as they bagged 6 points from 4 games. Virat Kohli was awarded the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 64, a knock that was crucial in helping India pile up the required numbers on the board.