India's Virat Kohli (centre) celebrates with Arshdeep Singh after winning the ICC men's Twenty20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight cricket match between India and Bangladesh at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda, on June 22, 2024. - AFP
NORTH SOUND, Antigua and Barbuda (AFP/Reuters): Leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav took three key wickets while Hardik Pandya blasted an undefeated half-century as India moved to the brink of the T20 World Cup semi-finals with a 50-run rout of Bangladesh on Saturday.
Chasing 197 for victory, Bangladesh managed just 146-8 off their 20 overs in reply.
India now have two wins from two Super Eight games and will be guaranteed a semi-final spot if Australia defeat Afghanistan later Saturday and also make the last four from Group 1.
India have found their batting template for the T20 World Cup, skipper Rohit Sharma said after the team beat Bangladesh in Saturday's Super Eight contest to maintain their unbeaten record in the tournament and close in on a semi-final spot.
A string of attacking cameos powered India to 196 for five, their highest total in what has been a low-scoring tournament so far, in the Group 1 contest at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.
Bangladesh managed 146-8 in reply and are on the brink of elimination after their second successive defeat in Group 1.
"I thought we played really well today, adapted to the conditions," Rohit said.
"There is the breeze here that you need to take into consideration, so you have got to be smart about that.
"Overall, we were clever with the bat and we used the conditions really well with the ball."
Hardik Pandya smashed an unbeaten fifty but Virat Kohli (37), Rishabh Pant (36), and Shivam Dube (34) also chipped in with breezy cameos.
"Only one player got fifty but we still got to 196," Rohit, who contributed 23, said.
"In T20, you don't need that many 50s or 100s. You can put pressure on the opposition in other ways. And all our batters tried to do that from the start.
"That's how we want to play going forward, of course while respecting the conditions too.
"We have a lot of experience in our squad and I back the players to make those decisions."
Pandya broke the Bangladesh opening stand with the ball and was adjudged player-of-the match.
"With Hardik in form, that puts us in very good stead going forward," Rohit said.
"He had a good platform and today he showed what he can do when he has that. He's a crucial player for us."
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said they needed a stronger start to get any chance of coming close to their target.
"We were thinking that 160-170 as being good for us, but the way they batted, credit goes to them," he said of their rivals.
"I think we have a lot of batting options but we didn't score as much as we needed, and chasing 190-plus we should have got more in the first six overs." - AFP/Reuters
