Cardiff : India thrashed Bangladesh by 95 runs in their final warm-up match at Cardiff on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming Cricket World Cup. Chasing a score of 360, Bangladesh got off to a steady start as their openers Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar stitched together a partnership of 49 runs. Jasprit Bumrah however, dismissed both Sarkar (25) and Shakib Al Hasan in successive deliveries to stage to allow India to gain the upper hand.
Das and Mushfiqur Rahim steadied the innings for Bangladesh and they put up a 120-run stand. Yuzvendra Chahal finally provided the much-needed breakthroughs to India as he dismissed Das (73) and Mohammad Mithun (0) in the 32nd over, with Bangladesh still requiring 191 runs for the win. Mahmudullah (9) failed to leave a mark as he was sent back to the pavilion by Kuldeep Yadav in the 36th over.
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Rahim and Sabbir Rahman put up a brief stand of 25 runs but they couldn’t hold the fort much longer as Rahim (90) was clean bowled by Yadav. Rahim’s departure proved as the final nail in the coffin as Bangladesh lost their final four wickets in a hurry and they lost the match by 95 runs.
Earlier, centuries by KL Rahul and MS Dhoni helped India score 359 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted fifty overs after being put into bat. The Indian team started on a slow note. The opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were not able to register comprehensive scores and they departed cheaply. Dhawan and Sharma were just able to score 1 and 19 respectively.
The skipper Virat Kohli played a knock of 47 runs to steady the ship for the Men in Blue but his dismissal in the 19th over raised alarm bells in the Indian camp. Vijay Shankar (2) also failed to leave a mark and the team was reduced to 102 for four.
MS Dhoni and Rahul then took the responsibility on their shoulders and they stitched together a partnership of 164 runs to take the team to a safe total.
Both the batsmen registered centuries and their form orders well for the team going into the World Cup. Rahul played a knock of 108 runs whereas Dhoni scored 113 runs. Hardik Pandya played a 21-run cameo to take the team over the 350-run mark. For Bangladesh, Rubel Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan scalped two wickets each.
India lost their opening warm-up match against New Zealand by six wickets whereas Bangladesh’s first warm-up fixture was abandoned due to rain. Bangladesh will take on South Africa in their opening match of the World Cup on June 2 whereas India takes on South Africa in their opening match on June 5.
Brief Scores: India 359/7 (MS Dhoni 113, KL Rahul 108, Rubel Hossain 2-62) defeat Bangladesh 264 all out (Mushfiqur Rahim 90, Liton Das 73, Kuldeep Yadav 3-47) by 95 runs.
