Shamik Chakrabarty in Dubai
Rishad Hossain drew Virat Kohli forward by bowling a leg-break that turned sharply and went past the outside edge. The batter was comprehensively beaten. It was a good ball, but this is what the majority of the leg-spinners and left-arm spinners have been doing to Kohli of late. If the fast bowlers are luring him to play deliveries in the corridor, the spinners are aiming to make him stab at the away-goers.
Hossain bowled the sucker ball next up — another leg-break, full and not wide enough to attempt a late cut. He was caught square of the wicket, gone for 22 off 38 balls. The innings had just one four, but that was never going to be a factor. India were chasing 229 for victory in their Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh and they kept things pretty much under control. Ahead of tougher challenges, it was important for Kohli to spend time in the middle. He was doing that,before yet again, falling prey to leg-spin. As per an ESPNcricinfo stat, his average in ODIs against this variety still remains north of 64. But there’s probably a discernible chink now.
If Kohli’s dismissal was a disappointment for a partially-full Dubai International Stadium — a woman covered her face as the former India captain trudged off — Shubman Gill’s batting was an uplifting experience. The India vice-captain is currently making batting in white-ball cricket feel like music with the lightness of touch. His eighth ODI century came off 125 balls, on a pitch that slowed down considerably as the match progressed. He remained unbeaten on 101 off 129 deliveries. A pull against Tanzim Hasan stood out.
It was back-to-back ODI hundreds for Gill, on the heels of his 102-ball 112 against England in Ahmedabad. It made him the top-ranked ODI batter in the world, trumping Babar Azam. At 144/4, India’s chase became a bit tricky. The ball was gripping and Hossain was bowling well. India had a 69-run opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and Gill to set up the chase. The skipper scored 41 off 36 balls and, in the process, competed 11,000 ODI runs — the second-fastest in the world after Kohli. It wasn’t a sublime innings. Far from it. But this will help him get into the groove before the Pakistan game.
Once again, Axar Patel was sent ahead of KL Rahul in the batting order. The move didn’t work. Rahul got a reprieve on nine but capitalised on it and went on to score 41 not out off 47 balls. Together, he and Gill added 87 runs in an unbroken fifth wicket stand that secured a six-wicket win for India with 21 balls to spare.
Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and suffered a top-order collapse that reduced them to 35/5. Axar was on a hat-trick after dismissing Tanzid and Mushfiqur Rahim off successive deliveries. But Rohit dropped Jaker Ali at slip that denied the spinner the hat-trick.
Ali added 154 runs for the sixth wicket with Towhid Hridoy to give Bangladesh’s total some respectability. The latter scored his maiden ODI century, braving a cramp. It was an excellent effort. But Bangladesh were still about 30-40 runs short.
From India’s perspective, Mohammed Shami returning figures of 5/53 was one of the biggest takeaways from the game.
The post Gill and Shami do star turn, as India start with a win appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports.
