As it happened

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Team India became the second team to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup with a 28-run win over Bangladesh at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground on Tuesday. In the end, the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah proved to be too good for tenacious Bangladesh. The No.1 ranked bowler in the world nailed back-to-back yorkers to end the Tiger nation's hopes of making it to the top-4.

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Chasing 315 on a track that was increasing getting slow, Shakib Al Hasan, as usual, was among the runs for his side. The right-hander held the fort from one end with yet another half-century [64] but the lack of support from other batters meant Bangladesh eventually fell short by 28 runs. The all-rounder, who became the first player to score more than 500 runs and take more than 10 wickets was let down by the lack of temperament from his fellow batsmen. It's a pity really that none of the other batters could rally around Shakib, guilty of throwing away their wickets against the run of play.

The Tigers got off to a cautious start with the openers safely negotiating the first spell of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, putting up 39 runs for the first wicket before Tamim chopped on off Shami. Soumya Sarkar [33] survived a close LBW call off Pandya [3-60] before gifting his wicket by clobbering a wide ball straight to cover-point. Mushfiqur Rahim [24] looked good with his usual late cuts and slog sweeps but one sweep proved too many for the wicket-keeper as he swept it straight to square leg. 

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Hardik Pandya [3-60] made good use of the short ball, accounting for Liton Das [22]. With the asking rate mounting, Shakin too fell in trying to up the ante, giving Hardik Pandya his third wicket. With the cream of the batting gone, the game looked well and truly over but Bangladesh refused to give up.  Saifuddin [51] and Sabbir [36] launched a brutal assault on the Indian bowlers, taking Shami for six boundaries in his next two overs.

The 47-run partnership which ironically was the highest of their innings- between Saifuddin and Sabbir, forced Virat Kohli to turn to the jewel of his crown and as always Bumrah didn't disappoint. Jasprit Bumrah once again showed why he is Kohli's most bankable currency. Every time the Indian captain turns to Bumrah, he withdraws a wicket from him. Bumrah [4-55] broke the partnership bowing Shabbir with a slower ball and then returned to clean up Rubel and Mustafizur with back-to-back toe crushers, nailing the final nail in Bangladesh's coffin.

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The 28-run win may have sealed the semi-final spot for Team India but today's win should not take away the spotlight from the issues that face out batting unit today. And there are serious issues. For, how would you explain that on a day when Rohit Sharma [103] scored his 4th World Cup ton- the first Indian and second overall- and the openers put-up the highest-ever opening stand for the side in a World Cup game [180], the team stilled huffed and puffed their way to 9-314. The spotlight has been on Dhoni, and rightly so. The lack of intent has been disappointing to see from Dhoni but it would be unfair to put all the blame for India's batting woes on the wicket-keeper solely.

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Barring Sharma, none of the Indian batsmen, and that includes Kohli too, have been able to convert their starts into a substantial score. KL Rahul [79] once again squandered the chance of scoring a hundred when he got out for 79 while Kohli [26] too fell in trying to up the ante. Mustafizur Rahman's [5-59] double-strikes in his comeback spell pegged India back substantially. Rishabh Pant scored a fluent 48 but like Kohli holed out in the deep.

Dinesh Kartik's first World Cup outing didn't last long as he was bounced out by Mustafizur. There was no major flourish from MS Dhoni and the fact that he skyed one in the air after turning down a couple of singles in the last over perfectly summed up his story as well as India's death-over batting woes in this World Cup.