Virender Sehwag en route to his 175 on Saturday
India beat Bangladesh by a massive 87 runs in the opening match of World Cup Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday.
India put on a mammoth 370 runs of board thanks to superlative batting performances by Man-of-the-match Virender Sehwag, who scored 175 and Virat Kohli's unbeaten 100.
But contrary to the expectations of the Indian fans Bangladesh managed to deliver under pressure and scored 283/9 before they ran out of balls.
Bangladesh got off to a fine start with Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal chipping away at the mammoth 271 target. But, the inevitable was bound to happen sooner or later and Bangladesh lost their wicket in the form of Kayes.
Kayes attempted a cut off a widesh ball off Munaf Patel, but the surprise drop in pace foxed him and an inside edge crashed into his stumps. He was forced to walk back on 34. when he team total was 56/1.
Finally, Harbhajan Singh got the better of Junaid Siddique on 37. Junaid batted on for an hour and pushed the Bangladesh score from 56-1 to 129, before Harbhajan's ball sharply moved away from him and caught him off guard as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni removed his bails in a second from behind the stumps.
Then Munaf Patel struck back to claim the wicket India desired the most. A good length ball from Patel saw Tamim Iqbal shoot towards the leg side, but the ball fails to go past Yuvraj Singh who claims a low catch to send the opener back on 70. Munaf claimed the wicket on first ball of his second spell and Bangladesh go down to 188/3.
Then it was Yusuf Pathan's turn to display his bowling prowess and he did it by claiming opposition skipper Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib got out on 55 as Bangladesh slumped to 234-4 in the 40th over.
At this sage the pressure started having an effect of the Bangladesh batters as they found it difficult to concentrate in the face of a mammoth target. Mushfiqur Rahim was next to depart with caught Suresh Raina (the substitute), bowled Zaheer written against his name. He scored 25 and the Bangladesh score read 248-5.
Soon, it was all over for the Bangladesh batters as the India bowlers, even though not up to the mark on the day banked on the huge 371 target to press for a win and that they did with a 87-run win.
Munaf Patel proved to be the wreaker-in-chief claiming four wickets on the day.
India innings
India opener Virender Sehwag went all guns blazing against Bangladesh as India posted a record 370/4. The opener remained at the crease for most part of the innings and rained boundaries even as the Bangladesh bowler tried hard to curtail his onslaught.
He equalled Kapil Dev's record of 175 that the former India captain had scored against the Zimbabweans way back in 1983, when the team won the World Cup.
However, like Dev's innings he could not carry on till the end and fell to opposition skipper Shakib Al Hasan's turner. A fullish ball angling into Sehwag took the bottom edge of his bat and crashed into the stump. He departed, but not before doing the damage.
His 175 that came off just 140 was decorated with 14 boundaries and five over the fence shots. When he fell the team total was 355/3.
But Sehwag's second-wicket partner Virat Kohli was still at the crease and continued to pound the Bangladeshi camp. He scored an unbeaten ton off 83 balls as India scored 370/4 in their stipulated 50 overs.
On the last ball of the innings Shafiul Islam claimed Yusuf Pathan on 8.
Earlier, Gautam Gambhir fell to Mahmudullah on 39. The ball entered his bat-pad gate and crashed into his stumps as India slumped to 152/2 in the 24th over.
Still earlier a mix-up saw Sachin Tendulkar run out on 28 as the India score read 69/1 in 10.5 overs.
The last time India met Bangladesh in the World Cup in 2007, India were bowled out for 191, and Bangladesh had chased it down easily.
The last time India met Bangladesh in the World Cup in 2007, India were bowled out for 191, and Bangladesh had chased it down easily.
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