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| 202 runs partneship between Sehwag and Kohli took game away from Bangladesh |
Bangladesh must be disappointed with the way they played. They might be thinking that the match scenario might have been different if only they could have stopped Virender Sehwag. But neither they can stopped Viru, nor they could stop the flood of runs in the opening match of World Cup 2011.
A huge score of 370 runs, developed by the incredible centuries of
India's Inning
As Virat Kohli told in a post-match interview, India had considered this match very important. Indians were aware that they lost their first match of World Cup 2007 against the same opponent, so they did not want to leave any stone unturned. They chose the best team for this match with the likes of Tendulkar, Gambhir, Yuvraj and Zaheer included in the lineup. Despite losing the toss (Dhoni must have good experience of losing toss now), India batted first in the good batting track, though there was some movement for the seam bowlers. The openers Tendulkar and Sehwag gave great start, scoring with the run rate above 6 before Tendulkar (28 runs) was run out due to stupid misunderstanding.
*It seems the legendary openers duo have forgotten the mutual understanding between each other, which can be clearly seen in the way Sachin was out. *
The flow of run did not stop after the first wicket. The first down Gambhir, who has played with Sehwag most of the times in both national and international matches, played sensibly and build a partnership 83 runs. He was bowled out by Mahmudullah at 39 runs off 39 balls.
Then comes Virat Kohli, who had very good 2010, carried his form in this match as well and batted wonderfully, giving good support to Virender Sehwag. The run rate accelerated from here and the score of 300+ seem pretty clear. The partnership lasted for 203 runs, when Shakib Al Hasan bowled out Sehwag for 175 runs (140 balls). He cleared the boundaries 19 times that included 5 mighty sixes. Virat Kohli played sensibly and reached his century (100 runs) before the inning ended. Yusuf Pathan (8), who was promoted ahead of Yuvraj Singh, was caught behind at the very last ball of the inning.
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| Virat Kohli is in the top form |
Bangladesh's Great Answer
Bangladesh played like a real tiger because this chase required great courage. They started as the run rate had demanded. The opening partnership of 56 runs should have created some disturbance in the Indian camp, but Munaf Patel one time again came as a saviour for India. He bowled out Imrul Kayes ( 34 runs, 29 balls, 7 fours), who was looking more dangerous between two. However, Bangladesh top orders kept on building good partnership, assisted by some good knocks of Tamim Iqbal (70 runs off 86 balls), Junaid Siddiqui (37 runs off 52 balls) and skipper Shakib Al Hasan (55 runs off 50 balls). However, the lower middle order and tailenders failed to hold the nerves. 50 overs were never enough to catch the mighty target and they fell short by 87 runs. Patel (48/4) and Zaheer (40/2) were the pick of the bowlers for India.
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| Tamim Iqbal continued dominating Indian bowlers |
So, the great rivalry that was created in last world cup between these two teams continues with India making the score even. Bangladesh have to wait another 4 years to take revenge.
