Gill’s ton, Shami’s fifer give India winning start to Champions Trophy
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Mohammed Shami bagged a fifer before Shubman Gill scored an unbeaten century to give favourites India a winning start to the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday.
India posted a six-wicket win as they chased down Bangladesh's modest total of 228 with 21 deliveries to spare. Gill remained unbeaten on 101 off 129 deliveries after skipper Rohit Sharma made 41. K L Rahul gave Gill company with an unbeaten 41 as India made the chase look easy.
Virat Kohli fell 15 short of 14,000 runs in ODIs as he got out for 22, while Shreyas Iyer (15) and Axar Patel (8) failed to capitalise on India's steady start.
Earlier, Shami answered the big question on Indian fans’ mind regarding Men in Blue’s firepower in the pace bowling in the absence of the injured Jasprit Bumrah. The right-arm pacer finished with 5/53 and in the process went past Zaheer Khan (59) for the most wickets by an Indian pacer in ICC tournaments. He has 60 now.
Towhid Hridoy had hit a brilliant century to prevent a major collapse as Bangladesh went from 2/2 and 35/5 to post 228. Harshit Rana preferred ahead of Arshdeep Singh, bagged 3/31, and Axar Patel chipped in with a pair of wickets as India made great use of the conditions after skipper Rohit Sharma lost the toss.
Axar dismissed Tanzid Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim in successive deliveries, but was unlucky to miss out on a hat-trick after captain Rohit dropped Jaker Ali, who gave a thickish outside edge, in the slips. Ali (68) forged a 154-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Hridoy (100).
New Zealand opened the tournament with a 60-run win over Pakistan in Karachi on Wednesday. Tom Latham and Will Young scored centuries for New Zealand.
Though Pakistan are the primary hosts of the 50-over event, India’s matches will be played in Dubai after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to send its team to the neighbouring country due to diplomatic tension.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 228 in 49.4 overs (Hridoy 100, Jaker Ali 68, Tanzid Hasan 25, Mohammed Shami 5/53, Harshit Rana 3/31, Axar Patel 2/43) lost to India 231/4 in 46.3 overs (Shubman Gill 101 not out, KL Rahul 41 not out, Rohit Sharma 41, Rishad Hossain 2/38)