Kohli hundred hands Bangladesh third straight defeat

Bangladesh suffered their third straight defeat as hosts India beat them convincingly by seven wickets at the MCA Stadium in Pune in the ongoing ICC World Cup. 

It was India's fourth consecutive win in the tournament and with the victory, they reinforced their tag of favourites for lifting the crown for the second time at home.

It was always going to be a herculean task for the visitors to better India without the services of their regular captain Shakib Al Hasan who missed out due to an injury to his left quad. 

Najmul Hossain Shanto became Bangladesh's sixth captain in World Cups but it was hard work for him and his men against an in-form side in front of a partisan crowd.

7:57 pm

India, chasing a middling 257, got off to a scintillating start as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill punished the Bangladesh new-ball bowlers. They added 88 off just 13 overs before Hasan Mahmud broke the stand.

But two no-balls spoiled Hasan's over as Virat Kohli hit a four and a six to get going.

6:35 pm

Most of Bangladesh's batters didn't turn up on a placid Pune wicket as India kept Bangladesh to 256-8 in their fourth match in the 2023 World Cup.

Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das hit half-centuries at the top but lack of substantial contributions from the rest saw Bangladesh fail to notch up a big score. Mahmudullah, in at seven, was impressive yet again as he helped Bangladesh amass a respectable total. 
Mahmudullah (46 off 36) emerged as Bangladesh's crisis man again as his fluent hitting in the slog overs took Bangladesh past 250. He protected the tailenders and at the same time took risky options to find boundaries before a spectacular yorker from Bumrah cleaned him up.

5:49 pm

The in-form Mushfiqur Rahim played superbly amid the batting collapse but Bangladesh needed him to bat through which he failed. He scored 38 off 47 before Jadeja took a blinder at backward point. His dismissal left Bangladesh reeling at 201 for six in the 43rd over.

4:44 pm

After the departure of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton grew impatient following some tight bowling from India and decided to try and clear the long-off boundary, only succeeding in giving a comfortable catch.

Ravindra Jadeja accounted for his wicket. Litton made 66 off 82.

4:13 pm

Litton Das took 14 balls to get off the mark but looked more comfortable with time. After the first powerplay, he looked largely untroubled and has brought up his fifty off 62 balls.

Before that, Shanto was adjudged LBW off Jadeja in the 20th over.

Bangladesh are 114/2 after 22 overs.

3:51 pm

Despite being slightly shaky early with Bumrah and Siraj swinging the ball, Tanzid was not afraid to go after the Indian bowlers. He got going with a six over deep fine leg off Bumrah. He skipped down the wicket multiple times and had good results as well. A straight drive off Siraj and an inside-out six over extra cover off Thakur were two of his best. He reached his fifty off just 41 balls, with the help of five fours and three sixes.

But he soon departed as Kuldeep Yadav provided the first breakthrough. He was caught LBW scoring 51 off 43 balls.

Bangladesh are 94/1 after 15 overs. 

3:29 pm

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj put the Bangladesh batters under pressure early in the innings but Litton Das and especially Tanzid Hasan took the game on in the second half of the first powerplay.

Tanzid has been the more aggressive of the two, taking down Siraj and Shardul Thakur after Hardik Pandya walked off after an injury.

Bangladesh are 63/0 after 10.

2:25 pm

Bangladesh stand-in captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and chose to bat first against India at the MCA Stadium in Pune.

Much to the disappointment of the Bangladesh camp, Shakib Al Hasan is not playing after sustaining a left quad injury. Taskin Ahmed, who has been off-colour in the tournament, has been dropped and Hasan Mahmud comes for him. Nasum Ahmed has been drafted in for the injured Shakib.

India are playing with an unchanged XI.

"Proud moment for me and my family," Shanto said at the toss as he is captaining the Bangladesh team for the first time in a World Cup match.

"Looks like a fresh wicket. If we put some good score, it'll be good for the team. He (Shakib) is struggling a bit, and Nasum is coming in for him. We have some great memories against India, and hopefully we continue our form. I hope it'll be a great match. We love to see the crowd, hopefully, they'll support both teams. Hasan comes in for Taskin," he further said.

'I would have bowled first. It's working at this point of time, don't see any reason to change it. That's important in this WC, keeping everybody in good space. The boys are in good shape, good mental space as well and enjoying the cricket. So far so good, we want to continue this momentum," Rohit Sharma said at the toss.

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Nasum Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj