India thrash Bangladesh by 87 runs in World Cup opener

Powered by Virender Sehwag's whirlwind 175, India thrash Bangladesh by 87 runs in World Cup opener at Mirpur to bury memories of loss to neighbours in the 2007 edition

One would never know whether revenge was in the minds of the entire Indian team. But, some old scores were settled and a scar erased.

Team India launched their bid to win back the World Cup after a gap of 28 years in emphatic fashion, crushing co-hosts Bangladesh by 87 runs in the tournament opener here yesterday. Leading from the front was none other than the buccaneer Virender Sehwag who thrashed the hapless Bangladesh's attack with a blazing knock of 175.


The Indians celebrate their 87-run win over Bangladesh in the 2011
World Cup opener at Mirpur on Saturday. PIC/SURESH KK

Not far behind Sehwag was his fellow Delhiite Virat Kohli who marked his World Cup debut with a cool knock of 100 not out. The twin centuries saw the Indians overcome a slow pitch to post 370 for four, which proved to be a little too much for Shakib Al Hasan's side. Sehwag said the victory erased the bitter memories of three years and 11 months ago when the Indians suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Bangladesh at Trinidad, but had words of comfort for the vanquished side.

"Think so. Bangladesh are still a very good side in ODIs. They can upset any of the higher-ranked teams. If they play well and know their strengths and weaknesses, they can beat anyone," he said.

The Delhi marauder, who batted with a runner following an injury, failed to go past Kapil Dev's historic individual score set at Tunbridge Wells in 1983.

"I am happy and honoured to have equalled his score in the World Cup. People will now speak about both of us getting 175," he said.

But Sehwag's success came at the cost of early dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar who was playing in his 445th ODI. The batting maestro was run out for 28 following a mix-up with his opening partner.

Sehwag said the incident did not affect his concentration. "Not much, he was calling and I wasn't listening. I was looking at the direction of the ball.

For a second, I thought I had made a mistake but when I got back to the dressing room he said the bottom line was to win the game for the country. It's not important who is performing."

Riding on Tamim Iqbal's well paced 70 and Hasan's 50-ball 55, Bangladesh tried to make a match of it but eventually finished at 283 for nine.

Scoreboard

India V Sehwag b Shakib Al Hasan 175, S Tendulkar run out (Al Hasan/Rahim) 28, G Gambhir b Mahmudullah 39, V Kohli not out 100, Y Pathan c Rahim b Shafiul Islam 8. Extras: (B1, Lb2, W16, Nb1) 20. Total: (for four wickets in 50 overs) 370. Fall of wickets: 1-69, 2-152, 3-355, 4-370.
Bowling: Shafiul 7-0-69-1, Rubel 10-0-60-0, Razzak 9-0-74-0, Shakib 10-0-61-1, Naeem 7-0-54-0, Mahmudullah 7-0-49-1.

Bangladesh Tamim Iqbal c Yuvraj b Patel 70, Imrul Kayes b Patel 34, Junaid Siddique st Dhoni b Harbhajan 37, Shakib Al Hasan c Harbhajan b Pathan 55, Mushfiqur Rahim c sub (Raina) b Zaheer 25, Raqibul Hasan not out 28, Mahmudullah b Patel 6, Naeem Islam lbw b Patel 2, Abdur Razzak lbw b Khan 1, Shafiul Islam run out (Harbhajan) 0, Rubel Hossain not out 1. Extras: (Lb10, W13, Nb1) 24. Total: (for nine wickets in 50 overs) 283. Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-129, 3-188, 4-234, 5-248, 6-261, 7-275, 8-279, 9-280.
Bowling: Sreesanth 5-0-53-0, Zaheer 10-0-40-2, Munaf 10-0-48-4, Harbhajan 10-0-41-1, Pathan 8-0-49-1, Yuvraj 7-0-42-0.