Adelaide: Litton Das left the room. How many people are going to be discussing it tomorrow? in Sylhet, Chattagram, and Dhaka. India made a strong score of 184 for 6 thanks to KL Rahul’s amazing comeback (50 runs off of 32 balls) and Virat Kohli’s continued great form (66 not out off of 44 balls). The 30-off-16 by Suryakumar Yadav was also helpful.
However, Bangladesh had a strong platform as Litton smashed seven fours and three sixes in the opening seven overs. When the game was halted and abandoned due to rain, they had 66 for no loss. Litton’s opening partner Najmul Hossain Shanto was seven off 16 at the time.
When play resumed, they should have been sure that they could score the 85 runs. Required off the final nine overs (54 balls), especially because the surface. And was probably going to be greasy from the downpour. However, two balls after Shanto asked for a tight second, Litton’s spikes were unable to sufficiently hold the wet ground he was sprinting on, and he was out by around a metre to an exceptional Rahul direct smash from just beyond mid-wicket.
Liton’s Hope in Adelaide
Bangladesh badly messed up by man. Then left in a very frustrating way, albeit he took little responsibility for it. He hit Arshdeep for three fours in the second over, the first going past the backward point, the second down the line, and the third crashing through extra cover, putting the game in motion.
He continued to nail them. Swivel-pulled into the stand beyond deep square-leg was Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Then, in the bowler’s following over, Litton got low and scooped Bhuvneshwar over the shoulder for six, arguably the game’s best stroke.
He had scored a 21-ball fifty by the time the Powerplay was over, and Bangladesh were on the offensive. When the rain started to fall and cause a lengthy break, they were 66 for 0 after seven overs, which was 17 runs more than the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par score. Then, Litton had 59 off 26.
He ran a second ball after the match resumed at his partner Shanto’s request, but as he did so, he slipped on the now-damp surface and lost significant distance. Rahul smacked him directly, stopping him a metre short. The pursuit changed.
Rahul’s Fifty
AS three consecutive single-figure scores, could this really be considered a decline given his half-centuries during the warm-ups? Rahul’s two magnificent sixes during the power play provided evidence that he was always in the know. It came from Shoriful Islam and it sluggish pick-up shot over deep square leg. The second, and best them, was perfectly timed square-cut off Hasan Mahmud that soared the seats. He followed that with two more sixes before being out in the tenth over, having established his value.
Kohli’s Batter
This is how you drop your anchor, if you’re going to. You play baseball while your team’s more aggressive players are in your slipstream. After that, you ensure that you catch up. Kohli’s score of 32 off 28 even at the conclusion of the 14th over was not very spectacular. But Kohli succeeds at advancing through the late overs, whilst other anchor-role players typically fail to do so. This time, he finished with a strike rate of 145.45 after hitting four fours and a six over the final six over. He has 220 runs this tournament with a strike rate of 144.73 and has only been out once in four innings.
The Fadeout Bangladesh
Bangladesh scored 67 runs from 43 deliveries before Litton was run out, and they had taken no wickets. Bangladesh lost five wickets and scored just 40 runs in the 34 balls (not including the delivery that ended the innings) after he was out. In essence, Arshdeep and Hardik Pandya’s double-wicket overs were where Bangladesh really lost the game. Shanto made an effort to raise Bangladesh’s chances, but India always felt like the more likely victor.