“Today was my day…I was hitting ball well”: KL Rahul after win over Bangladesh
""Today was my day where I got off to the start. A few shots went on to hit the middle of the bat. I think every innings is important"
New Delhi: After Team India registered a stunning victory over Bangladesh, India opener KL Rahul said he knew that he was hitting the ball well in the game.
Fifties from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, and superb bowling spells by bowlers helped India clinch a 5-run victory over Bangladesh in a rain-curtailed clash of Group 2, Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Wednesday.
In a rain-curtailed 16-over match, Litton Das lit up Bangladesh’s chase with his 60 coming of 27 balls but the batter could not guide his team home. For India, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya bagged two wickets each.
Rahul set the tone for India’s innings with some breathtaking shots right from the start. He was still going a run-a-ball but things changed when he hit two sixes and a four off Shoriful Islam in the ninth over of the innings. Rahul reached his fifty after playing 31 deliveries.
“Today was my day where I got off to the start. A few shots went on to hit the middle of the bat. I think every innings is important. It is disappointing that you do not perform in a few matches. I knew in my heart that I was hitting the ball well,” KL Rahul said in a post-match presentation.
Praising the team management and Rohit Sharma, Rahul said, “Rohit, management and staff have backed the players a lot even when a player is going through a tough time with form and that has helped the players to come back.”
Kohli carried his rich vein of form forward in the match too. He became the highest run-scorer in the history of the T20 World Cups when he took his 16th run in this innings and also went on to play yet another magnificent knock of an unbeaten 64 from 44 deliveries, his third fifty of this tournament.
“Virat Kohli has been doing so well, so the discussion with him was about how to adapt and get his thoughts to play in these challenging conditions as all want to learn from everyone. We were actually just discussing how coming to Australia has been different. We have played Tests and T20Is before. He has done well in this tournament so you want to pick his mind on what he is doing right,” said the India opener.
Talking about the match, put to the field first by Bangladesh, India posted 184/6 in their 20 overs. Virat (64*) and KL Rahul (50) posted the fifties for India while Suryakumar Yadav also scored a quickfire 30 of 16 balls. Virat and KL had a 67-run stand for the second wicket.
Hasan Mahmud (3/47) and skipper Shakib al Hasan (2/33) took wickets for Bangladesh.
Chasing 185, Bangladesh were off to an explosive start. Rain interrupted action when they were at 66/0 in seven overs. The match was restarted with a revised target cut short to 169 runs and overs slimmed down to 16.
This break proved to be vital for Men in Blue as it broke Bangladesh’s rhythm. They started to lose wickets quickly, including Litton Fas for 60 off 27 balls. Though Nurul Hasan (25*) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (21) contributed some useful scores, Bangladesh fell five runs short of the target.
Arshdeep Singh (2/38) and Hardik Pandya (2/28) delivered good spells. Mohammad Shami also took a wicket. Virat was given ‘Man of the Match’ award for his match-winning fifty.