India Outclass Bangladesh to Set Up Finale with Pakistan

Birmingham(June 15, 2017): India has reserved its place in the Champions Trophy final to play against Pakistan on Sunday at The Oval, as the Kohli-11 thrashed Bangladesh by 9 wickets in chase of 265-run target.

India were terrific today, just when Mushfiqur and Tamim were starting to cruise they broke the partnership with some innovative thinking, ratcheted up the pressure on each new batsman and then batted almost faultlessly. One of the ways they manage to seize the initiative, or prevent the opposition from seizing it, is the way Jadeja and Ashwin rattle through their overs. There’s no time for the batsmen to think and they look up at the scoreboard and another five overs have gone. Jasprit Bumrah was tremendous and the top three, each of them, attractively fluent.

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Earlier, Kedar Jadhav proved India´s surprise weapon with the ball as the title-holders restricted Bangladesh to 264 for seven in their Champions Trophy semi-final at Edgbaston on Thursday.

India v Pakistan Final …. !!!!!!!! All TV execs around the World are now cracking a nice bottle open to celebrate ….. #IndiaToWin

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 15, 2017

The part-time off-spinner, who´d taken just six wickets in his previous 18 one-day internationals, removed Bangladesh top-scorers Tamim Iqbal (70) and Mushfiqur Rahim (61).Bangladesh´s third-wicket duo shared a stand of 123 but, ideally, the Tigers would have wanted at least one of them to go on to a bigger score.

It appeared a minor success for Bangladesh when Jadhav came on in a match where frontline off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin´s first seven overs cost 42 runs.

But India captain Virat Kohli´s move was rewarded as Bangladesh suffered a middle-order collapse.It did not take long for India to make a breakthrough after Kohli won the toss and fielded under grey skies.

The very first over saw Soumya Sarkar fall for a second-ball duck when he played on attempting a booming drive off Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

At one for one, there were fears that Bangladesh, who collapsed to 84 all out in a 240-run warm-up thrashing by India last month, were poised for another top-order slump.But new batsman Sabbir Rahman cover-drove his first ball, from Jasprit Bumrah, for four.Sabbir hit four boundaries in his 19 but just as he was getting into top gear he cut Kumar straight to Ravindra Jadeja at point.

But from 46 for two, the experienced pair of Tamim and Mushfiqur rebuilt the innings.

Tamim, bowled off a Hardik Pandya no-ball on 17, was in fine touch.

The left-handed opener whipped Pandya over mid-wicket for six and his reverse-sweep four off left-arm spinner Jadeja saw him to a 62-ball fifty.

Tamim also struck three fours in as many balls off Ashwin — a cut, a sweep and a nudge past fine leg.

This was Tamim´s fourth fifty in his last five innings, but he gave his wicket away when bowled trying to sweep Jadhav.Mushfiqur again showed his class with the bat in a 61-ball fifty.

But when, to his evident dismay, the wicket-keeper hit a Jadhab full toss to Kohli at mid-wicket, Bangladesh were 179 for five in the 36th over.

By this stage they had also lost Shakib Al Hasan, whose 114 and Bangladesh record stand of 224 with Mahmudullah (102 not out) had seen the Tigers recover from a top-order collapse to beat New Zealand last time out.
Kohli wary of ‘dangerous’ Bangladesh.Shakib (15) was well caught by wicket-keeper MS Dhoni after bottom-edging a cut off Jadeja.

Bumrah then stuck twice in quick succession as he caught and bowled Mosaddek Hossain and yorked Mahmudullah (21) to reduce Bangladesh to 229 for seven off 45 overs.

But some late-order hitting from Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, whose 30 not out included five fours, kept the Tigers in the game, albeit India boast a powerful batting line-up.

The winners of this match will play Pakistan, shock eight-wicket conquerors of England, in Sunday´s final at the Oval.

India launched their title-defence with a 124-run thrashing of arch-rivals Pakistan at Edgbaston 11 days ago.

India and Pakistan have demolished their semi-final opponents. One hopes for a crackingly competitive final but we fear India have won three of four of their ODIs against Pakistan in England.

	India Innings (target: 265 runs from 50 overs)		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	RG Sharma	not out	123	165	129	15	1	95.34
	S Dhawan	c Mosaddek Hossain b Mashrafe Mortaza	46	67	34	7	1	135.29
	V Kohli*	not out	96	96	78	13	0	123.07
	Extras		0
	Total	(1 wicket; 40.1 overs)	265	(6.59 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ	0s	4s	6s
	Mashrafe Mortaza	8	0	29	1	3.62	30	3	0
	Mustafizur Rahman	6	0	53	0	8.83	17	9	1
	Taskin Ahmed	7	0	49	0	7.00	19	7	1
	Rubel Hossain	6	0	46	0	7.66	13	6	0
	Shakib Al Hasan	9	0	54	0	6.00	16	5	0
	Mosaddek Hossain	2	0	13	0	6.50	2	1	0
	Mahmudullah	1	0	10	0	10.00	2	2	0
	Sabbir Rahman	1.1	0	11	0	9.42	2	2

9:10pm
OVER 40.1: IND 265/1 (Rohit 123* Kohli 96*)
Kohli finishes it with one hit, a cover drive smeared for four that leaves him unbeaten on 96 off 78 balls. India win by nine wickets.

9:09pm
OVER 40: IND 261/1 (Rohit 123* Kohli 92*)
Kohli may not care about three-figures but Rohit is not going to deprive him if he can help it, so gives the captain the strike but all he can do is take singles himself but farms the strike.

9:07pm
OVER 38: IND 256/1 (Rohit 121* Kohli 89*)
Sabbir comes on, poor lad. And begins with what my colleague Geoffrey Boycott would call ‘rooobish’, an absolute goose of a loopy full toss that Kohli pulls hard for four. He punches a single down the ground to rack up 8,000 ODI runs then Rohit decides to rein it in to let his captain make three figures. He needs 11, India nine to win.

9:04pm
OVER 38: IND 249/1 (Rohit 120* Kohli 83*)
‘There are so many good batsman to watch,’ says Shane Warne. ‘But Virat Kohli’s my favourite.’ Very Sirt Bruce Forsyth, that, Shane. He flicks a four off his pads when Shakib drifts one in, drives to long off for a single and Rohit ends the over with a lofted drive over cover for four. They’ve put on their party pants.

9:01pm
OVER 37: IND 239/1 (Rohit 115* Kohli 78*)
This is looking ominous for Pakistan … but their bowlers give them hope. Can Kohli race to a hundred before they pass the winning tape? He crashes a cut for four of Taskin who has not been able to find a consistent length then late cuts a single. Rohit prefers the hammer to the sickle, pulling another Taskin short one for four behind square leg.

8:56pm
OVER 36: IND 229/1 (Rohit 110* Kohli 73*)
Shakib is trying his best but can’t catch a break or a breakthrough. Five singles are milked with stylish restraint.

8:55pm
OVER 35: IND 224/1 (Rohit 108* Kohli 70*)
Taskin takes the thankless assignment of returning and Rohit begins circumspectly then gives it the maker’s name, in this instance the eponymous ‘Rohit Sharma’ by CEAT, and thumps his drive past mid-off for four.

8:49pm
OVER 34: IND 218/1 (Rohit 103* Kohli 69*)
Kohli’s cover drive again makes Edgbaston swoon as it rifles for four off poor, game old Shakib. Was Rudolph Valentino really more dreamy to his audience than that shot to this one? I can’t believe it.

8:47pm
OVER 33: IND 212/1 (Rohit 102* Kohli 64*)
Mahmudullah didn’t last long. He’s sent down to the long pasture and Mustafizur resumes, with no change of fortune or script. Kohli check drives down the ground, the ball hitting the sweetest spot of the vast meat of Kohli’s wonderfully elastic bat and careering for four.  He tucks one off his hip to give Rohit the strike and after three dot balls weathered, each short but with variations in pace, he gobbles up the last, hooking it with more than a ration of  top edge over fine leg for six to bring up his century. That’s his 11th ODI century.

8:40pm
OVER 32: IND 201/1 (Rohit 95* Kohli 57*)
Rohit posts the 200 with a tap down to long off for a single. Shakib continues to try to keep it respectable but a miss in a semi-final is as good as a mile.

8:39pm
OVER 31: IND 198/1 (Rohit 95* Kohli 57*)
Mahmudullah comes on to try his offies. He begins with a loosener, a filthy pie that Rohit collars for four, swivelling on to the long hop and larruping it to the boundary. Kohli follows suit when the bowler’s precision deserts him again and he overpitches, taking a stride and creaming it through the covers with a loose bottom hnd.

8:34pm
OVER 30: IND 188/1 (Rohit 90* Kohli 52*)
Shakib has been able to slow them down and continues here with three singles only given up. Professional pride keeps Bangladesh fighting but their day is done. There’s nothing at all in the pitch to help them against this extraordinary top three.

8:32pm
OVER 29: IND 185/1 (Rohit 88* Kohli 51*)
Flick, push, clip and wait for the loose one. It comes last ball and Kohli climbs into the half-tracker outside off and hammers his pull between mid-on and midwicket for four. That’s his fifty and he looks as good as he has ever done in England.

8:28pm
OVER 28: IND 177/1 (Rohit 86* Kohli 45*)
Shakib comes back on and the breakthrough is so close, twice. He comes round the wicket and Rohit chips one over the top, deceived by flight, the phrase Colin Dexter purloined. It was a slower ball and it came off the leading edge but dropped short of long off and cover running back. Kohli goes back to cut the next ball and gloves it. It fizzes through and hits Mushfiqur on the thigh. A quarter-chance.

8:23pm
OVER 27: IND 172/1 (Rohit 84* Kohli 43*)
Taskin plugs away with his ‘corridor plan’ and it works up to a point, Lord C. India are restricted to a single but they need only 92 from 138 balls.

Has to be the best chasing ODI Batsmen of all time @imVkohli !!!! #JustSaying #INDvBAN

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 15, 2017

8:21pm
OVER 26: IND 172/1 (Rohit 83* Kohli 43*)
One from Kohli’s vault. Mosaddek tosses one up, Kohli takes to the dancefloor, makes a giant stride towards the bowler and thumps it through extra-cover for four. This has long had the feeling of yesterday’s semi, nerve and skill making the run-chase a cinch.

8:16pm
OVER 25: IND 164/1 (Rohit 81* Kohli 37*)
Taskin comes back on and asserts a measure of control with a strategy – fourth-stump line and trying to induce Kohli to nick off. Sod’s law dictates that he comes closest to getting Rohit to have a waft outside off. he gets the ball to hold its line and it zips past the edge.

8:12pm
OVER 24: IND 161/1 (Rohit 80* Kohli 35*)
Five off Mosaddek’s , each an easy flick or push and a walk down the other end, seems like a handbrake but only relatively.

Here’s Rohit in the tournament so far. Look how strong he is on decent length balls, which suggests how correct he is technically, opines Ian Bishop.8:09pm
OVER 23: IND 156/1 (Rohit 78* Kohli 32*)
‘Fast on his feet,’ Graeme Smith identifies what makes Kohli so good for a small man after he drills a cover drive for four even though there is a sweeper stationed within five yards of where it crossed the rope. You can tell he’s in sumptuous nick, because he on-drives for three. Rohit bursts out of his captain’s shadow to  play his own sumptuous pair of shots to drive nails through Rubel’s soul. He seems to have all the time in the world to lean back and open the face to smear the ball past point for four off off-stump. The last ball is more ragged and wider so Rohit raises his bat to the horizontal and bludgeons it for four past the point sweeper. He’ll be footsore tonight.

8:03pm
OVER 22: IND 139/1 (Rohit 69* Kohli 24*)
My goodness me. Kohli hits successive fours, contrasting in their execution but twins in attractiveness. The first he carts from outside off and pings it through midwicket with that dainty pirouette. The next, though, is pure VVS, creaming it through the covers. Remember Sir Neville Cardus on Trumper? Victor, he wrote, “donated runs over the field, bestowing them like precious jewels to us, to the crowd, to the bowlers even. He wasn’t, as Bradman was, a killer. His strokes didn’t stun or insult a bowler.” What a player Kohli is.

8:59pm
OVER 21: IND 128/1 (Rohit 67* Kohli 15*)
A quieter over from Rubel Hossain but nothing to twist India’s melon. Four singles.

7:59pm
OVER 21: IND 128/1 (Rohit 67* Kohli 15*)
A quieter over from Rubel Hossain but nothing to twist India’s melon. Four singles.

7:56pm
OVER 20: IND 124/1 (Rohit 65* Kohli 13*)
Kohli hits his first boundary and given he’s not much of an off-driver (preferring the arc from cover to point), it’s a beauty. Mustafizur helps by overpitching but Kohli points his toe and strokes it crisply back down the ground. Shot! As we say.

7:53pm
OVER 19: IND 118/1 (Rohit 64* Kohli 8*)
Shot! Rubel bangs it in but goes even rounder arm than normal and van only skid it up towards the opener’s thigh-pad. He’s on to it in a flash, spins through 90 degrees and hammers his pull for four. His dander is well and truly up now and he chases a wide one, trying to carve it through point but without the timing of the last shot he ends up thick edging it past gully for four. These two put on half-century stands the last two times they batted together and look well set for the hat-trick

7:45pm
OVER 18: IND 106/1 (Rohit 55* Kohli 5*)
A change of bowler for a change of fortune? Mashrafe turns back to Mustafizur. No slip, though. The left-armer slants it across Kohli who drives the first to mid-off for no return then opens the face to earn a single. The slower ball almost foxes Rohit who is too quickly through his drive when he connects and consequently chips it up but wide of the Bangladesh captain at short extra cover. A sharp intake of breath. Mustafizur ends the over with a victory of sorts, splitting Kohli’s bat when the India captain jammed his bat down into the blockhole to dig out a yorker. 7:40pm
OVER 17: IND 102/1 (Rohit 52* Kohli 4*)
Rubel replaces his captain, which blows my 10 over off-the-reel hypothesis apart. Kohli punches a single through point to post India’s hundred.

7:37pm
OVER 16: IND 99/1 (Rohit 51* Kohli 2*)
Rohit, who kept pinching the strike and faced 20 more balls than Dhawan in their partnership of 87, drives successive fours at the start of Shakib’s second over. Mashrafe has stationed himself at point but he’s too creaky to get down and stop the square drive that skids under him. Sharma creams the next one through the covers and fist-bumps Kohli. Australia used to dismissively call fist-bumping ‘shazams’  and decried those who did it. Everyone’s at it now.

7:32pm
OVER 15: IND 87/1 (Rohit 41* Kohli 0*)
I was just pondering whether Mashrafe was bowling himself out because he’d be too stiff after taking a break to return and thinking it an indulgence, when he makes the breakthrough. He keeps peppering a spot half-way down the pitch, is pulled hard for four but does for him the next ball with a cutter.

7:27pm
Wicket!!
Dhawan c Mosaddek b Mashrafe 46Method to Mashrafe’s seeming indulgence. Reeling off his eighth over he takes some tap but then gets a slower cutter to stick in the pitch and gull Dhawan into playing to early and spoon his attempted pull to point off the top edge. FOW 87/1

7:26pm
OVER 14: IND 77/0 (Rohit 37* Dhawan 40*)
Shakib, comes round for Rohit. Takes two steps and bowls fast and flat. Rohit steps back and drills a single down the ground then Dhawan flicks one to midwicket. This feels like a procession as they effortlessly work the spinner into the gaps for four singles and a two. No one wants to dishonour Bangladesh with the discourtesy of writing about how easy and inevitable India’s victory seems, but unless they take two quick wickets they look cooked.7:21pm
OVER 13: IND 77/0 (Rohit 37* Dhawan 40*)
Mashrafe carries on with the tried and trusted, banging it in at three-quarter peak ratpower. And the dazzlingly talented openers are content to play within themselves to cuff and clip singles at will into the legside. We’re going to have some spin in an attempt to trip India’s cakewalk.

7:16pm
OVER 12: IND 74/0 (Rohit 35* Dhawan 39*)
Rubel bullocks in and his line is all over the place. Short and wide goes for a single, arrowing into Dhawan’s pads entices the opener to flick it fine for four. It’s not working, Mashrafe. Try your spinners and tell your seamers to ‘pitch it ooop’.7:13pm
OVER 11: IND 67/0 (Rohit 33* Dhawan 34*)
Good afternoon. Another dynamic first-wicket partnership from Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan threatens to take the game away from Bangladesh. Mashrafe continues – largely on one leg – and bangs it in twice, once on leg stump, once outside off. Each is casually dismissed for a single. He’s a true warrior but Mashrafe’s body has all but abandoned him now. Imran in 1992 could still bowl sporadically at a fair lick and his sheer presence and batsmanship contributed so much. Mashrafe, today, may be leaning on the latter two attributes too heavily to help his team win.

7:06pm
OVER 10: IND 63/0 (Rohit 31* Dhawan 32*)
Rubel comes on, and some fantastic fielding saves a certain four, and completes a second straight over without a boundary. Things might just be looking up..,

Actually no, India are firmly in control.

And with that, my cameo is over. Here’s Rob Bagchi to steer you through to the end.

7:01pm
OVER 9: IND 60/0 (Rohit 29* Dhawan 31*)
Mashrafe has bowled best so far, and a four-run over is more like it for Bangladesh. He needs some stronger support, and fast.

6:56pm
OVER 8: IND 56/0 (Rohit 26* Dhawan 30*)
Already getting quite one-sided, this. Dhawan is hitting the ball so cleanly, and he’s mixing up his shots brilliantly, too. One slightly outside off is pushed through the covers for four, before a short and straight ball is hooked with perfect timing for four more.

And then the final ball of the over is even shorter and Dhawan plays a similar shot but with the face of his bat slightly more open – the ball flies over the rope for six. 16 off the over!

6:51pm
OVER 7: IND 40/0 (Rohit 25* Dhawan 15*)
Mashrafe again, and a handful of more dot balls, but once again followed by a boundary. Rohit leans back and swings to loft the ball over mid-on and to the rope with just a couple of bounces.

6:47pm
OVER 6: IND 36/0 (Rohit 21* Dhawan 15*)
India’s start has forced Bangladesh into their first bowling change – Taskin comes on.

And early on he gets a bit of movement and finds an edge, but the ball doesn’t quite carry to slip, but just when it looks like he might just nudge the run rate down a tad, Dhawan goes after him and hooks the final ball away for four.

6:42pm
OVER 5: IND 31/0 (Rohit 20* Dhawan 11*)
The floodgates have opened now and the runs are flowing for Rohit, who clips a delivery that is just too short through the leg side for four more. Six off the over.

Looking good at the half way mark of the match… bowlers have done a fantastic job once again in this tournament 👊👏#INDvBAN #CT17

— zaheer khan (@ImZaheer) June 15, 2017

6:38pm
OVER 4: IND 25/0 (Rohit 15* Dhawan 10*)
Too, too wide again from Mustafizur, and Rohit punishes him with a fine half volleyed, front foot drive through the covers for four. And another! This time he gets low and swings powerfully at a wide one for four more. Then he drives the final ball of the over down the ground to the rope once again. 12 off the over. Far too expensive, that, and it’s looking like this could be a long 50 overs – or likely, far fewer – for Bangladesh.

6:33pm
OVER 3: IND 13/0 (Rohit 3* Dhawan 10*)
Good, consistent bowling from Mashrafe and Rohit is pegged back for a second over. Rohit takes another two runs.

6:28pm
OVER 2: IND 11/0 (Rohit 2* Dhawan 9*)
Left-armer Mustafizur opens at the other end. Dhawan pokes one beautifully off the back foot just past extra cover for four, and then very next ball he whacks a short-ish ball behind square for another boundary. Dhawan is in fine form and it’s showing.

6:27pm
OVER 1: IND 2/0 (Rohit 2* Dhawan 0*)
The players are back out and the Bangladesh crew look fired up and raring to go. It’s hard to see how this attack might stifle the Indians sufficiently, to be honest, but they look like they think they can do it.

It’s a pretty defensive field, though, with only one slip in, and when Mashrafe’s second ball swings away and just misses an outside edge, it does make you think another slip might be a good idea early on.

After the first ball strays too far down leg, five dot balls wrap up a solid opening over.

	Bangladesh Innings (50 overs maximum)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	Tamim Iqbal	b Jadhav	70	82	7	1	85.36
	Soumya Sarkar	b Kumar	0	2	0	0	0.00
	Sabbir Rahman	c Jadeja b Kumar	19	21	4	0	90.47
	Mushfiqur Rahim†	c Kohli b Jadhav	61	85	4	0	71.76
	Shakib Al Hasan	c †Dhoni b Jadeja	15	23	1	0	65.21
	Mahmudullah	b Bumrah	21	25	2	0	84.00
	Mosaddek Hossain	c & b Bumrah	15	26	3	0	57.69
	Mashrafe Mortaza*	not out	30	25	5	0	120.00
	Taskin Ahmed	not out	10	14	1	0	71.42
	Extras	(lb 9, w 7, nb 2, pen 5)	23
	Total	(7 wickets; 50 overs)	264	(5.28 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ	0s	4s	6s
	B Kumar	10	1	53	2	5.30	37	9	0	(1w)
	JJ Bumrah	10	1	39	2	3.90	41	6	0
	R Ashwin	10	0	54	0	5.40	27	5	0	(3w)
	HH Pandya	4	0	34	0	8.50	9	2	1	(2nb, 2w)
	RA Jadeja	10	0	48	1	4.80	28	4	0
	KM Jadhav	6	0	22	2	3.66	18	1	0	(1w)

Virat Kohli seized a game that was drifting away back when he brought on Kedar Jadhav to break the third-wicket partnership between Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur at 123. Tamim started scratchily but had begun to find some fluency and the breakthrough was vital. After that they took seven for 105 off 22 overs, Jasprit Bumrah bowling beautifully at the end with good support from Ravi Jadeja earlier.Mashrafe cannily added enough to give India a test but I think they fell about 25 short of a properly competitive total. My colleague Alistair Tweedale will be here for the start of India’s reply – they’re chasing 265 to win – and I’ll be back for the denouement.

5:51pm
OVER 50: BAN 264/7 (Taskin 11* Mashrafe 30*)
Bumrah ends with two for 40. Kumar, wicketless, will bowl the last over. Taskin jab-pulls the first for a single. Kumar goes with yorkers for Mashrafe, one either side of a wide. After delivering the second of them, dug out for two, Kumar goes down clutching his ankle but after a stretch he gets up to complete the over with more yorkers that restrain the batsmen to two more.

India need 265 to win.

5:48pm
OVER 49: BAN 258/7 (Taskin 9* Mashrafe 27*)
Mashrafe takes the initiative against Bumrah. The bowler tries to follow him with a bouncer and he swings hard and edges it past Dhoni’s right hand for four. The next ball is short too, this time outside off-stump and Mashrafe connects with the tennis shot he tried a couple of overs back, swatting it between extra-cover and long-off. Virat Kholi sprints over to Bumrah and has a word and tells him. presumably, to pitch it up because he bowls successive yorkers and attempts a third that slips out and ends up being a full toss that arrows towards the captain’s thigh pad. Mashrafe improvises again, shovelling it into the legside and hurtling a single.

5:43pm
OVER 48: BAN 248/7 (Taskin 8* Mashrafe 18*)
Taskin swings and misses and mistimes prods to the infield for five dot balls. The captain has to have a word as he’s going for broke instead of just getting off strike. It works, kind of, off the last ball that flies off the inside edge for four.

5:41pm
OVER 47: BAN 244/7 (Taskin 4* Mashrafe 18*)
Mashrafe is adopting the old spaghetti legs routine, feinting and moving across his crease and up and down the pitch. Bumrah takes it as an invitation for a yorker which he executes perfectly. Mashrafe jabs down his bat quickly and somehow digs it out of the blockhole and squirts it past leg-stump and the keeper for four. Enough to make any veteran bowler curse this ‘batsman’s game’. Bumrah simply grins in moral victory. Here Bumrah is on the threshold of the caught and bowled:5:35pm
OVER 46: BAN 231/7 (Taskin 1* Mashrafe 13*)
Four for Mashrafe – not where he intended. Kumar’s off-stump bouncer tempted the Bangladesh captain into improvising a right-hand cross court pass tennis shot but ended up top-edging over Dhoni.

5:32pm
OVER 45: BAN 224/7 (Taskin 0* Mashrafe 7*)
Since India brought on Jadhav, Bangladesh have lost five wickets for 70 from his call-up onwards. Fine bowling from Bumrah AKA Hades. He came back early for a death bowler but has delivered magnificently with two for 22 off eight.

5:27pm
Wicket!!
Mahmudullah b Bumrah 21

5:26pm
OVER 44: BAN 221/6 (Mahmudullah 19* Mashrafe 6*)
Back comes Kumar and Kohli stands at slip. Mahmudullah takes a single with a flick off his hip, putting his captain on strike. Mashrafe Mortaza takes his guard. Kumar sizes him up and essays a slower ball that Mashrafe climbs into with the ease of a man summiting Scafell Pike in his slippers, pulling it hard in front of square for four. Kumar thinks again and bangs one in, much quicker. Mashrafe is up on to his toes to defend and has to show his dainty footwork when the ball threatens to carrom back on to his stumps.

5:21pm
OVER 43: BAN 215/6 (Mahmudullah 18* Mashrafe 1*)
Duncan Fletcher’s old mantra about needing mystery spin and pace to win matches in the modern era. What about Jasprit Bumrah, purveyor of mystery pace. He’s quick, full of variations and thoroughly unpredictable.

Wicket!!
Mosaddek c & b Bumrah 15

5:16pm
OVER 42: BAN 218/5 (Mahmudullah 17* Mosaddek 15*)
Mahmudullah now demonstrates his touch, ‘establishing a stable base’ in the rather unromantic words of Graemke Smith, to allow him to reverse-sweep with velvety finesse between the men in the circle at third man and point. That’s Ashwin done, 10-0-54-0. He has not been at his best so far.

5:13pm
OVER 41: BAN 212/5 (Mahmudullah 14* Mosaddek 12*)
Classy shot from Mosaddek, hammering an off-drive for four off Bumrah who has come on early to replace Pandya. Signs that they’ve played themselves in after the rapid-fire loss of Shakib and Mushfiqur.

5:10pm
OVER 40: BAN 207/5 (Mahmudullah 10* Mosaddek 11*)
I appear  to have deleted OVER 34. Having a mare after the fire drill. Apologies. Ashwin continues for a ninth over and there’s plenty of drama in it, a spurious referral by the umpire for a run out when the batsman was safe at home and tucked up in bed plus a five-run penalty when the ball hits Dhoni’s discarded glove which brings the kind of cheer you usually here only when the umpire slips over. He had taken it off to take the throw and then chuck it at the non-striker’s but the hurl dipped under his grasp and hit his other ‘wicketkeeping gauntlet’ as they used to be billed in the St Peter catalogue.

5:02pm
OVER 39: BAN 197/5 (Mahmudullah 10* Mosaddek 9*)
Double change. Pandya who has been quick but erratic so far comes back and he is left cursing the day he ran over that black cat when Ashwin drops a difficult chance at third man. Mahmudullah slashed at a cut, dropping his right hand a little too quickly and chipping it into orbit. Ashwin makes good ground to his left, dives and the ball bobbles out of his grasp when he lands and scuttles under him for four. Kohli’s tongue displays its sharp edge this time as he curses.

05:02pm
OVER 38: BAN 197/5 (Mahmudullah 10* Mosaddek 9*)
Double change. Pandya who has been quick but erratic so far comes back and he is left cursing the day he ran over that black cat when Ashwin drops a difficult chance at third man. Mahmudullah slashed at a cut, dropping his right hand a little too quickly and chipping it into orbit. Ashwin makes good ground to his left, dives and the ball bobbles out of his grasp when he lands and scuttles under him for four. Kohli’s tongue displays its sharp edge this time as he curses.

05:58pm
OVER 37: BAN 191/5 (Mahmudullah 4* Mosaddek 9*)
Sanjay Manjrekar points out that India and Pakistan have taken more wickets between overs 11 and 40 in the tournament (11) than anyone else and says that’s why they’re doing so well. Ashwin returns for Jadahav, the change candidate who fulfilled his manifesto pledges. Ashwin resumes at his miserly best, tight, good length, ceding no room for the batsmen to free their arms.05:55pm
OVER 36: BAN 188/5 (Mahmudullah 2* Mosaddek 8*)
Jadeja bowls out and does his captain’s bidding with four dot balls applying the shackles to Mosaddek who bounds free off the last ball, which is wide and inviting. More placement than power from Mosaddek this time, dab-cutting behind square for four. Jadeja finishes with one for 48.

04:52pm
OVER 35: BAN 183/5 (Mahmudullah 1* Mosaddek 4*)
The pressure of speedy overs and dot balls does for Mushfiqur. Mosaddek gets away with a gift, a long hop outside off that the new batsman hammers with his sickle for four. 04:48pm
Wicket!!
Mushfiqur c Kohli b Jadhav 61Caught at midwicket, moving left, then diving forward and to his right, scooping it a couple of centimetres off the grass. What a prime bowling change Jadhav has proved to be for his captain. Kohli sticks out his tongue Haka style in glee. Ka-mate! FOW 179/5

04:47pm
OVER 35: BAN 179/4 (Mahmudullah 1* Mushfiqur 61*)
That was an excellent ploy from Jadeja and Dhoni. A quicker ball and a wonderful catch off the toe of Shakib’s bat.

Wicket!!
Shakib c Dhoni b Jadeja 15Set him up in the previous over with the one he carved for four. This one was wider and bounced more and he nicked off, Dhoni taking a smart catch. FOW 177/4

04:43pm
OVER 33: BAN 175/3 (Shakib 14* Mushfiqur 59*)
A first boundary for 10 overs. Shakib waits for a slightly shorter one to sit up outside off stump and scythes it for four between third man and point. With the boundary in the bag, Mushfiqur and Shakib resort to tiop and run to sccumulate four singles.

04:40pm
OVER 32: BAN 167/3 (Shakib 8* Mushfiqur 57*)
Jadeja must now be one of the best cover points of them all. Here he pulls off a swooping stop with a headline dive to turn a four into a single, that was worthy of a Ponting, Collingwood or Rhodes.

04:39pm
OVER 31: BAN 164/3 (Shakib 6* Mushfiqur 56*)
Jadeja auditions for The House of Flying Arrows with his best darts. Three singles are all that can be accrued, each behind square, two on the on-side, one on the off. It’s during these overs that England traditionally wilted, the speed of each over scrambling their minds. Can Bangladesh disrupt this rat-a-tat-tat attack from India’s spinners?

04:34pm
OVER 30: BAN 161/3 (Shakib 4* Mushfiqur 55*)
Simple singles. Five of them off Jadhav. But that suits both parties at the moment.

12:33pm
OVER 29: BAN 156/3 (Shakib 1* Mushfiqur 53*)
This is when Ashwin and Jadeja are at their most dangerous, rattling through their overs when a new batsman comes to the crease. Jadeja continues  and Shakib gets off the mark with a flick through square leg.

12:31pm
OVER 28: BAN 154/3 (Shakib 0* Mushfiqur 52*)
Kohli may have coasted for a couple of overs but was ultimately decisive and his pluck in turning to his sixth bowler was handsomely rewarded with a round-arm clean bowled from round the wicket. Tamin was undone more by geometry than his testosterone.

04:26pm
Wicket!!
Tamim b Jadhav 70 Kudos for Kohli as his bowling change pays off. Tamim was tied down without scoring for only a couple of balls and tried to break free. He went for the big slog sweep, missed it and from round the wicket Jadhav had speared it towards off and middle. FOW 154/3

04:26pm
OVER 27: BAN 152/2 (Tamim 69* Mushfiqur 49*)
A half-century for Mushfiqur with a streaky shot, a big French-Chinese cut off the inside edge behind square leg for a single.

04:22pm
OVER 26: BAN 148/2 (Tamim 69* Mushfiqur 49*)
India make a bowling change and call Kedar Jadhav with his round-arm off-spin into the attack. The lack of flight is no problem for Bangladesh and they give him the once over while taking a run a ball, piercing the infield and tapping it to the infantry on boundary patrol.

12:19pm
OVER 25: BAN 142/2 (Tamim 66* Mushfiqur 46*)
Mushfiqur has a fine array of sweeps:

Chim chiminey/ Chim chiminey/ Chim chim cher-oo! Good luck will rub off/  when I shakes ‘ands with you.

Here he plays the orthodox version off Jadeja, down early and lapping it behind square leg for two to add to the three singles accrued. The partnership moves on to Nelson, 111.

04:16pm
OVER 24: BAN 137/2 (Tamim 65* Mushfiqur 42*)
Virat Kohli is sticking to his pre-cooked plans and keeps Ashwin going. He’s a milking enbaler here because Bangladesh are targeting the deepest fielders to stroll singles, long off and long on, the cover sweeper and fine leg.04:12pm
OVER 23: BAN 130/2 (Tamim 63* Mushfiqur 37*)
Dabs, flicks and check drives bring singles until Mushfiqur gets a sniff of width that allows him to hammer two to the point sweeper.

04:11pm
OVER 22: BAN 123/2 (Tamim 62* Mushfiqur 31*)
Glorious shot from Tamin, a scything cut through point, cutting on width rather than length so his bat was not quite horizontal but his timing was exemplary. Four more off the next ball, a step towards the bowler and an inside-out lofted drive over cover. Make that three in succession. Ashwin, fearing Tamim’s tendency to step away to leg makes him vulnerable over extra-cover, spears one into him. But Tamim doesn’t step away and glances it off his pads for four. Sublime cat and mousery there.

04:08pm
OVER 21: BAN 110/2 (Tamim 50* Mushfiqur 30*)
Mushfiqur was beaten by the understanding between Dhoni and Jadeja but saved by his right foot planting itself when Dhoni whipped off the bails. He had gone down for the big sweep but was flummoxed when Jadeja fired it in. He evaded punishment for slogging aforethought. Earlier he had reverse-swept for four, chipping the ball over short third man.

04:03 pm
Umpire line call  review
Mushfiqur st Dhoni b Jadeja NOT OUT

He was in.

Stumping chance04:02pm
OVER 20: BAN 105/2 (Tamim 50* Mushfiqur 25*)
Ashwin is haring through his overs and racks up five dot balls before Mushfiqur can find a gap. He wouldn’t want him to bag a maiden, though, and manages to back off from the very tight line to squirt a dab ddown to third man for a single off the last ball.

04:01pm
OVER 19: BAN 104/2 (Tamim 50* Mushfiqur 24*)
Scotch that: Tamin brings up his fifty but in the old frenetic style and almost gave Jadeja a wicket in his first over. He went down to soon for his reverse sweep and top-edged it … just … over third man for four. One recalls the old coach’s mantra: ‘Play each ball on its merits, lad.’

03:58am
OVER 18: BAN 96/2 (Tamim 43* Mushfiqur 23*)
Perhaps Mushfiqur is like a goat in a throughbred’s stable, cooling skittish nerves.  It’s worked a treat on Tamim this past few overs as they satisfy themselves with pushing Ashwin around smartly, rotating the strike, happy with a run-a-ball strategy.

03:55am
OVER 17: BAN 90/2 (Tamim 41* Mushfiqur 19*)
Ah, that’s lovely from Tamim. He comes down the wicket, Pandya follows him and arrows it towards his pads but he adjusts his balance, kicks back his left leg – imagine Larry Grayson and ‘Shut that door’ – then swipes a towering six over midwicket with a bullet-quick flick. That’s drinks, at the ideal time for India because Bangladesh have at last calmed their inner Billy Whiz and it’s earning them dividends.03:49am

OVER 16: BAN 80/2 (Tamim 33* Mushfiqur 17*)
Perhaps the passing of the 15th over has acted like a huge sedative for Bangladesh demonstrate signs that they are calming down. A couple of punches down the ground bring singles and then Mushfiqur attempts a scoop, flicking the ball over Dhoni’s shoulder but without enough force to take it to the boundary. They run one, giving Tamim the strike and he plays his best shot so far, a soft-handed dab off Ashwin through third man for four.

03:46am
OVER 15: BAN 71/2 (Tamim 26* Mushfiqur 15*)
A little less frantic from Pandya – and the batsmen. Bangladesh’s breakfast must have been roughly the same as a 1970s’ Brooklyn cop, two doughnuts, eight Benson’s and six schooners of ‘Joe’.  They take three singles into the legside with tucks. Pandya is certainly bending his back to get the ball above the waistband and when he really digs one in, his reward is the umpire signalling wide as it trimmed Tamin’s nostril hairs outside off-stump.

03:41am
OVER 14: BAN 67/2 (Tamim 24* Mushfiqur 14*)
And if anyone can expose a batsman struggling to time the ball, Ashwin or Jadeja would be their worst nightmare with the speed they get through their overs, the tight line and the need to take risks. Tamim takes a couple of singles with tip and run quarter-blooded drives and Mushfiqur one with a premeditated but effective lap-sweep.03:38am
OVER 13: BAN 63/2 (Tamim 22* Mushfiqur 13*)
Hardik Pandya is the first relief seamer and there’s a free hit for Tamim whose timing hasn’t clicked. He’s dancing to a different drum today and plays shonkily at the fee-hit, awarded for a ramping bouncer, propelled from 20 yards. He slices his cut high off the free-hit and is caught but scrambles back for two. It’s not Pandya’s ideal start as he entices Tamim, no fluency at all, to drag on but only when overstepping a second time. He hangs his head and double teapots when the umpire’s arm goes yup. Another free hit – Pandya flings it wide of off-stump, so we go again. Pandya strains for the yorker, delivers a low full toss that Tamim drills down the ground for four.

Tamim is paying tribute to George Michael in this innings, guilty feet have got no rhythm.

Tamim’s timing is all to cock
Tamim’s timing is all to cock CREDIT: ANDREW BOYERS/REUTERS

03:31am
OVER 12: BAN 49/2 (Tamim 12* Mushfiqur 12*)
We resume live coverage with Ashwin replacing Bumrah and he is played watchfully and cannily. He tries flight and the quick seamer but the batsmen are content to take his measure, killing the ball with dead bats and milking a single with a dab wide of slip.Wicket!!

Sabbhir c Jadeja b Kumar 19

Diddled by a slower ball that he had to wait an age for and therfore couldn’t time and slapped to point. FOW 31/2

Following that TMushfiqur has hit three successive fours off Kumar, two sweetly timed and one a hideous inside edge off a cut that squirted past his leg-stump on its way to the fine leg boundary. We will resume with coverage of the 12th over. Sorry again.

03:01am
I’m afraid the fire alarm has just sounded
And I’ll have to leave you. I’m sure it’s a drill but I have no choice but to leave. Sorry.

03:00am
OVER 4: BAN 26/1 (Tamim 6* Sabbir 19*)
Bumrah enforces a degree of control until Sabbir decides to risk it for a biscuit and skitters down the pitch to play a Viv Richards-esque inside-out drive over wide mid-off for four. They’re not going to expire wondering …

02:57am
OVER 3: BAN 21/1 (Tamim 6* Sabbir 15*)
Bhuvi Kumar starts with another pair of dot balls, right in the slot and Sabbir, the quickest blade in the east, blocks them. But he refuses to be tied down, takes a stride towards the bowler and slices a drive deliberately over extra-cover for four. Definite swing for Kumar, inswing zeroing into Sabbir’s drive which makes him inside edge it through square leg for a flukey two. Jam yesterday, then, but not today … he creams the last ball through cover-point with a gorgeous square drive.

02:52am
OVER 2: BAN 11/1 (Tamim 6* Sabbir 5*)
Enter Bumrah to take the other new ball and strays on to Tamim’s legs who flicks it crisply for four. The outfield is slick and quick. When he bowls on his pads again, Tamim tucks another single. Sabbir Rahman is greeted with a wide shorter ball that he crashes through cover point for four. Bumrah, though, is a great manipulator of the ball, goes for a quick cutter and almost cuts Sabbir in half with one that nips back through the gate but bounces over the stumps.  This is absorbing – sadly the pitch is absorbent and it’s starting to drizzle again. We might go off in a moment.

02:48am
OVER 1: BAN 1/1 (Tamim 1* Sabbir 0*)
India open up with the man who, in the absence of the terrific Praveen and Jimmy Anderson, must be the best swing bowler around. He angles a couple across Tamim trying to get him to throw his hands at drives and flash hard. But he refuses to be tempted to nick off, waits for the shorter one and clips it off his hip for a single. Soumya Sarkar, alas, does not show such discretion and falls off a thick inside edge.

02:44am
Wicket!!
Soumya b Bhuvneshwar 0A wicket in the first over for ODI cricket’s greatest swing bowler. He slanted it across the left-hander who went for the wafty drive and dragged it on. FOW 1/1

02:41am
The players are out
Are you settled nicely … then we’ll begin. Bhuvneshwar will open the bowling.

02:37am
Pitch perfect
Unlike yesterday’s well-worn Cardiff carpet, India and Bangladesh are playing on the bottom of the three Edgbaston pitches prepared for the Champions Trophy and you can see it’s relatively fresh:

02:35am
Play has been delayed and starts at 02.40am
Bangladesh have beaten India five times in 33 meetings, four victories in Dhaka and, most significantly, 10 years ago at the 2007 World Cup in Port of Spain when the Bangladesh boys effectively knocked India out of the tournament before the Super Eight stage and ended the controversial India coaching career of Greg Chappell. MS Dhoni and Yuvraj remain in the India side from that nadir and MS used it to motivate India on the long path to winning the 2011 World Cup.

Bangladesh still have Tamim, Mushfiqur, Shakib and Mortaza from their first great ODI victory, described wonderfully here by Scyld Berry:

It was an excellent day for the World Cup, if not for disgraced England, and for two Davids. While Ireland’s pace bowlers were giving Pakistan’s batsmen a bad beard day, Bangladesh overwhelmed India with their exuberance, bowling out last time’s World Cup finalists for only 191 and winning with five wickets and nine balls to spare.

Bangladeshi cricket – at least their one-day cricket – has improved out of sight since last autumn’s Champions Trophy. Granted Test status prematurely in 2000, and thrown into the deep end without assistance, Bangladesh are now mentored by Australian coaches and fitness trainers. Their cricketers go to the gym, and swim, and field with all the enthusiasm of youth and the skill of Aussies, showing up India’s vastly better paid superstars.

These Bangladeshis have an impish verve all their own. Their youngsters are not only ardent but cheeky and streetwise. They are the youngest Test nation but they don’t die wondering.

Some teams would have looked at the Indian team-sheet, studded with stars, and been overwhelmed when their array of century-makers chose to bat; but not Bangladesh’s collection of spirited scamps, who then knocked off the runs with pretty cool heads yet still hit five sixes in the process.

They also have the asset of a high-quality pace bowler in Mashrafe bin Mortaza, who would walk into England’s side and possibly Australia’s. He topped and tailed India’s innings like a veteran, even though he is only 23. He wrecked New Zealand’s top order in one of Bangladesh’s warm-ups, setting up a victory that clearly did wonders for their morale when they went into yesterday’s match, which brought only their fifth win against senior nations in one-day internationals.

Virender Sehwag, India’s once-wonderful opener, has been reduced to a wreck. His stumps were too, after he aimed to cut a ball from Mortaza that was far too straight. With the help of some left-arm swing from the other end, Mortaza kept India down to 24 for two in the first 10 overs, and shaped the innings to come.

A peculiar feature of Bangladesh’s cricket is that their bowling relies on four left-arm bowlers, three of them spinners. When Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh, India’s two lefthanded batsmen, were building a partnership, this lack of variety was a defect. But both gave catches when set, and the left-armers were too much for India’s right-handed batsmen on a pitch offering some turn and bounce: Sachin Tendulkar inside-edged on to his pad to be caught behind by another scamp, the 18 year-old wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim, while Rahul Dravid was pinned by the wily Mohammed Rafique, twice the age.Far from replying nervously, Bangladesh were launched by Tamim Iqbal, a prodigiously gifted 17-year-old left-hander, who ran down the pitch to India’s pace bowlers, smashed them for two sixes, and hit 51 off 53 balls. The World Cup has never seen such audacity from one so young.

Another prodigy, Rahim, the wicketkeeper-bat, glued the innings together – something they have always needed – with a wise old head for an 18-year-old, yet still hit two sixes himself. Saqibul Hasan weighed in with another fifty, slightly more restrained, but then he is relatively old, turning 20 next week.

If Bangladesh can play Test cricket in the same youthful spirit, the world has a treat in store.02:25am
Sorry for the rushed beginning
We will settle down quickly and hit our ‘areas’. In the few minutes while I compose myself and something to post, please enjoy this:

And welcome to a late start for our coverage of the second CT17 semi-final from Edgbaston. Today’s winners will take on Pakistan in Sunday’s final and India have won the toss and put Bangladesh in. Virat and Mortaza have named their teams:

Bangladesh Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim†, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza*, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

India RG Sharma, S Dhawan, V Kohli*, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni†, KM Jadhav, HH Pandya, RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, JJ Bumrah

Picture Courtesy: Indian Express, Google, Hindistan Times

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CT17:Pakistan Crush England, Qualify For Final First Time