On This Day in 2019: India defeat Bangladesh in World Cup courtesy of Rohit, Bumrah
India were really excellent in the 2019 World Cup that was held in England & Wales where they made the semifinals having topped the league stages. They overcame challenges from South Africa, Australia, arch-rivals Pakistan, amongst others.
However, the league fixture against Bangladesh was also a challenging affair that saw the Men in Blue register a hard-fought win to strengthen their semifinal hopes on this very day three years ago courtesy of a remarkable batting performance from in-form Rohit Sharma and brilliant four-wicket haul from Jasprit Bumrah at Edgbaston.
When Bangladesh were undone by Rohit and Bumrah’s brilliance
Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. The decision was spot on as openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul laid a solid foundation with a 180-run stand. Rohit had a narrow escape when he was dropped in the fifth over by Tamim Iqbal off Mustafizur Rahman which was arguably the turning point of the contest.
The ‘Hitman’ made the Bangladesh bowlers pay for their shoddy fielding and went on to score an amazing century. Thus, Sharma became only the second Indian after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar to score over 500 runs in a single edition of the World Cup and also equaled the feat of Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Sangakkara to score four centuries in a World Cup. Rohit was eventually dismissed for a 92-ball 107. The Bangladesh bowlers made a remarkable comeback at the death and restricted India to 314/9.
In reply, Bangladesh kept losing wickets at regular intervals and their run chase seemed to be losing the momentum completely. Nonetheless, veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s 66 added some impetus to their innings before a valiant knock of an unbeaten 51 runs from 38 deliveries by Mohammad Saifuddin almost gave India a huge scare.
Unfortunately for Saifuddin, he was in a helpless situation and found no support from the other end as the Indian bowlers broke Bangladesh’s backbone with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah doing the bulk of damage.
Bumrah accounted for the likes of Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman respectively to finish with figures of 4/55 from his 10 overs including a maiden at an impressive economy of 5.5 as the Men in Blue eventually came out on top by 28 runs in the penultimate over. Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning ton.
