World Cup 2023: Virat Kohli hits sublime hundred; India crush Bangladesh

financialexpress.com:

On Thursday, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, India defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets. Men in Blue maintained their perfect record in their 50-overs home World Cup. Team India cruised to their fourth consecutive victory. Virat Kohli smashed a century.

Stand-in captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and elected to bat against India. For Bangladesh, the first six overs yielded only 19 runs. The neighbour was unable to capitalise on a 93-run opening stand between Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan, making 256-8 on a good batting pitch.

From early in the match, Team India was one bowler short after Hardik Pandya twisted his ankle in his first over.

Hardik Pandya was introduced in the ninth over. However, he could bowl only three balls before harming his ankle. At the stadium, decibel levels soared soon as part-time seamer Kohli stepped up to complete that over.

By trapping Tanzid lbw, Kuldeep Yadav drew first blood. Team India claimed three swift wickets to peg back Bangladesh. Ravindra Jadeja performed impressively and dismissed Shanto for eight and had Das caught in the deep.

During the match, Jadeja pulled off a spectacular catch at backward point to cut short Mushfiqur Rahim’s promising knock of 38 before Mahmudullah smashed a breezy 46 to assist Bangladesh cross the 250 mark.

As the chase began, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma (48) performed smartly and set alight the powerplay overs. Initially, Shubman Gill (53) was content admiring the effortless shot-making of his captain. Shortly he joined the party by striking Nasum Ahmed for two sixes in the same over.

Virat Kohli ended with an unbeaten 103. He smashed a six to reach his hundred and secure India’s win with 51 balls to spare.

“It was a good win,