Former champions India became the first team to qualify for the World Twenty20 semi-finals after half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma secured a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over hosts Bangladesh on Friday.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra, three for 26, was again among the wickets as India restricted the hosts to a below-par 138-7 and chased down the target with nine balls to spare to secure their third victory in three matches in the tournament.
“We’ve performed well in this tournament, but there are still a couple of areas we can improve in,” India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni told reporters.
Photo: AFP
“We fielded well, but we’ve seen quite a few catches going down in the tournament and it has been a problem with all teams,” he said.
It was a familiar story for India as Dhoni won the toss again and inserted Bangladesh before unleashing his bowlers, who restricted their rivals to a sub-140 score for the third match in the tournament.
Once again Kohli proved why he is considered India’s batting mainstay, walking in early after Shikhar Dhawan’s cheap dismissal and staying until the end to secure the victory.
Once again, Dhoni hit a six to seal the win just as he did in the final of the 50-over World Cup in 2011.
“[Because of small run chases] our middle order has not really been tested... I’ve not got any batting for a while, so it was a late decision [to promote myself up the order]. I said I should go out and play a bit,” the skipper said.
Dhawan’s struggle for fluency continued as the left-hander fell for 1, but the steady Sharma (56) and in-form Kohli (57 not out) negotiated the modest Bangladesh attack with ease on the way to a century stand.
Sharma got a reprieve on 34 when both Anamul Haq and Sohag Gazi went for a skied chance he offered and the fielders were lucky not to collide after wasting the opportunity to dismiss him.
Kohli played with the poise that has become his hallmark, shunning extravagance and scoring the occasional boundary to complete an comfortable chase.
Under tremendous pressure following listless performance this year, Bangladesh were boosted by opener Haq (44) and Mahmudullah Riyad (33) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Put into bat, Bangladesh lost their top three batsmen cheaply after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Tamim Iqbal and Shamsur Rehman with successive deliveries.
Haq added 46 runs with skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (24) for the fourth wicket to arrest the slide, but Mishra castled him with a googly to deny him his half-century.
Mahmudullah added 49 runs with Nasir Hossain for the sixth wicket and Mashrafe Mortaza hit the last ball of the innings for six as Bangladesh made an inadequate total against the 2007 champions.
West Indies are eyeing the second semi-final spot from the group, as are Pakistan.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care