IND vs BAN | Gill ton sees India home in tense chase after incredible Tigers recovery despite Shami fifer

Bangladesh got their Champions Trophy off to a disastrous start with Soumya Sarkar nicking behind a sharp Mohammed Shami inseamer in the first over itself to depart for a duck. Harshit Rana made things worse by having skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto drive straight to Virat Kohli at cover and the Tigers suddenly found themselves reeling at 2/2. Tanzid Hasan responded to the pressure with a counterattacktried, slamming Shami for three boundaries in two overs and inspiring Mehidy Hasan Miraz to add one of his own, but the pacer had the last laugh by scalping the latter in the seventh over. With the momentum firmly in the Men in Blue’s favour, Rohit Sharma introduced Axar Patel into the attack and the left-arm spinner immediately wreaked havoc. Two balls in, he had Mehidy edge one to Rahul before inflicting the same fate on Mushfiqur Rahim the very next delivery to leave Bangladesh reeling at 35/5. For a brief moment, Axar seemed to have become just the second man to take a Champions Trophy hat-trick, but Rohit let Jaker Ali’s catch slip in what turned out to be the defining moment of the game. The batter combined with Towhid Hridoy to dig deep against a ferocious spin attack of Axar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav, unbothered by the struggling run rate. From 79/5 after 20 overs to 111/5 after 30, the duo managed just one boundary — on the penultimate ball of the 10-over period — and saw Hardik Pandya let slip another dolly in the process. A much healthier 54 runs came off the next set of 10, as both men brought up their respective half-centuries following which Towhid decided to break the shackles. Even though Jaker failed to capitalize properply and eventually departed for 68, Towhid battled severe cramps to make his way to a maiden ODI ton. A few lusty blows from Rishad Hossain in an 18-run cameo further aided the Tigers’ cause as they reached a competitive total of 228.

In response, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill continued their sublime form at the top of the order, the former imposing his will with aggressive strokeplay. The skipper flayed seven boundaries and a maximum in a rapid kncok of 41 before holing out on the penultimate ball of the powerplay with the score 69/1. With Virat Kohli new to the crease, the Tigers seized their chance to restrict the scoring rate and did well to contain Gill too who himself had a free-flowing start. Just two boundaries and 42 runs came in the next 12 overs as pressure kept mounting, ultimately culminating in Kohli slicing Rishad Hossain straight to backward point after a strugglesome 22. Gill, nevertheless, remained unperturbed to bring up a 69-ball half-century, and kept plugging on even after Shreyas Iyer and Axar departed in quick succession with India slipping from 111/1 to 144/4. The TIgers nearly made a game out of it when KL Rahul launched one down Jaker’s throat in the 37th over but the dropped sitter proved to be the final nail in the coffin. Gill and Rahul showed utmost efficiency thereafter to milk the bowlers for singles and find the occassional boundary, the former ultimately registering an eighth ODI ton while the latter finished things off with a six in the 46th over.