Hardik, Kuldeep star as India thrash Bangladesh by 50 runs, inch closer to semis

Vicecaptain Hardik Pandya topscored with an unbeaten 27ball fifty and took 132 in a top allround performance while wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav bowled a stellar spell of 319 as India thrashed Bangladesh by 50 runs to claim their second Super Eight stage win in the ICC Menrsquos T20 World Cup 2024 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on SaturdayOn a fresh pitch Pandya smashed four boundaries and three sixes in his undefeated knock which was key in India amassing 62 runs off the last five overs Coupled with attacking 30s from Virat Kohli Rishabh Pant and Shivam Dube India posted a commanding 1965 in their 20 overs their highest total in the competitionIn reply Kuldeep bowled a wonderful spell helped by bounce and a bit of grip to leave Bangladesh in disarray The rest of the bowlers produced another outstanding show and the fielders backed them up very well to restrict Bangladesh to 1468 and inch closer to the semifinals India will confirm their semifinal spot if Afghanistan fail to beat Australia at St VincentIndia dominated from the word go with immaculate ease as every batter looked to attack resulting in four batters having strikerate above 150 It resulted in them posting the highest T20I score at the venue and also hitting 13 sixes ndash the most number of maximums they have hit in a T20 World Cup gamePushed into batting first with cross wind blowing Rohit Sharma didnrsquot let the spinners settle by sweeping Mahedi Hasan for four followed by repeating the same shot against Shakib Al Hasan for a similar resultKohli joined in taking the attack to the spinners by smacking Shakib for a clean six over longon followed by using his bottom hand strongly in flicking Tanzim Hasan Sakib for fourRohit danced down the pitch to hit Shakib for a big six before slicing him past backward point for four more in the fourth over Shakib eventually had the last laugh as Rohit got a topedge on slog and was caught by a backward point to fall for a rapid 23Kohli used his bottom hand well in swinging Mustafizur Rahman for six followed by slamming legspinner Rishad Hossain down the ground for another maximum But in the ninth over Tanzimrsquos clever change in pace got Bangladesh back in the game ndash getting a slower offcutter which kept straight to castle Kohli for 37Though Suryakumar Yadav swiped him for a six Tanzim got extra bounce on a length delivery outside offstump to take Suryakumarrsquos glove edge behind to keeper Pant who was at 12 off 15 balls greeted Rahman with a drive through the gap between cover and midoff for fourHe was quick to heave a slower ball from him high over midwicket for six and flicked a full toss in the gap between square leg and fine leg for four more to take 14 runs off the 11th over Hossain was next in the firing line as Pant smashed him with the spin over longon for six and then swept him behind for four more But Hossain bounced back as Pant reverseswept straight to short third man falling for 36Pandya and Dube dealt in singles before the former cut loose by hammering Mahedi with the wind through extra cover for six and four respectively Dube hammered three quick sixes before being castled by a slower googly from Hossain for 34 Pandya continued to be at his freeflowing best ndash slamming two sixes before hitting three fours in the final over off Rahman to take India past 190 and get his fifty on the last ball of the inningsChasing 197 was always going to be an uphill task for a middling Bangladesh batting lineup Despite the stiff target Tanzid Hasan began strongly by hitting four boundaries followed by Litton Das smashing two boundaries Pandya got the breakthrough when Das couldnrsquot control his pull on a wide delivery and was caught at deep midwicketTanzid was dropped on 24 by Pant off Bumrah but was trapped lbw on the back leg by a stunning googly from Kuldeep Towhid Hridoy was next to fall as Kuldeep got a legbreak delivery to turn in slightly and go past an attempted slogsweep to trap him plumb lbwMore success followed India as Kuldeep had Shakib mistime a loft to cover followed by Bumrah deceiving Najmul Hossain Shanto with an offcutter which he sliced to a short third man and Arshdeep bowling a similar delivery to take out Jaker AliHossain impressed with his hitting abilities by smashing a four and three sixes before giving a top edge on pull to extra cover off Bumrah who finished with an economy rate of just 32 in another comprehensive win for India and maintained their unbeaten run in the competitionBrief scoresIndia 1965 in 20 overs Hardik Pandya 50 not out Virat Kohli 37 Tanzim Hasan Sakib 232 Rishad Hossain 243 beat Bangladesh 1468 in 20 overs Najmul Hossain Shanto 40 Tanzid Hasan 29 Kuldeep Yadav 319 Jasprit Bumrah 213 by 50 runsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter 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