In Stats: How India Eliminated Bangladesh to Set Up Pakistan Final

Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan crossed personal milestones as well.

Virat Kohli celebrates a wicket with Kedar Jadhav. (Photo: Reuters)

• Bangladesh: 264/7 in 50 overs (Tamim 70, Mushfiqur 61; Bumrah 2/40)
• India: 266/1 in 40.1 overs (Rohit Sharma 123 not out, Virat Kohli 96 not out)

India stormed to the Final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 after they defeated Bangladesh in the second semi-final on Thursday. After opting to field at the Edgbaston, India restricted their opponents to 264-7. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma then set up the chase with yet another significant opening partnership – this time worth 87 runs, before the king of run-chases – Virat Kohli – took control of proceedings and polished off the chase with an unbeaten 96.

(Read: India Thrash Bangladesh, Set Up Champions Trophy Final vs Pakistan)

Rohit remained unbeaten on 123 as India sailed past the target in the 41st over, winning by a margin of 9 wickets – their biggest win in the competition.

During the course of the run-chase, captain Virat reached a significant career milestone; he went past 8000 runs in ODIs – becoming the quickest and the second-youngest to reach the 8k milestone.

(Photo: Harsh Sahani/The Quint)

Dhawan Set Early Momentum

Shikhar Dhawan was brilliant on the day, and credit should go to the left-hander for the manner in which he deflated the opposition at the start of the run-chase. With Rohit Sharma going at a run-a-ball early on, India needed someone who could put the pressure on Bangladesh. And Dhawan answered the team’s call; he respected the good deliveries – scoring 10 runs off 16 balls which were pitched on a length, but took full toll of the short deliveries – scoring 36 runs off 18 balls. When he was dismissed in the 15th over, he’d made 46 from 34 balls, while his opening partner Rohit had 41 from 54 balls.

Dhawan appears to have a special liking for the ICC Champions Trophy; the left-hander was the highest run-getter in the last event, was named the Player of the Series then, and sits atop the list of run-getters this season too. He averages an outstanding 85.00 in the Champions Trophy, which is more than twice his average in other ODIs.

(Photo: Harsh Sahani/The Quint)

By virtue of his consistent showing in the 2013 and 2017 editions of the ICC Champions Trophy, Dhawan now has more runs than any other Indian batsman in the tournament; during the course of his 46 against Bangladesh, he overtook Sourav Ganguly’s aggregate of 665 runs in the Champions Trophy.

(Photo: Harsh Sahani/The Quint)

Bangladesh Started Strong

Earlier in the day, Virat Kohli and co. were perhaps caught unawares by Bangladesh’s aggressive approach at the start of their innings. After losing opener Soumya Sarkar in the first over, Bangladesh signaled intent when they sent the daring Sabbir Rahman to bat at number three in a bid to establish momentum. Though that move did not reap too many rewards, it certainly put pressure on India. Tamim Iqbal took time to get going, but in the company of Mushfiqur Rahim, runs started to flow at a fair clip. After 24 overs, Bangladesh were comfortably placed at 137-2, scoring at nearly a run an over.

That’s when the Indian captain pulled an unexpected trick from the book; he turned to Kedar Jadhav to cover up for the struggling Hardik Pandya, and boy, did the ploy work.

Jadhav, in the company of Ravinda Jadeja pulled things back and gave Kohli some much-needed control; first up, Jadhav broke the 123-run partnership when he castled a well-set Tamim Iqbal, after which Jadeja accounted for the experienced Shakib-al-Hasan. In the 36th over, Jadhav struck a second blow – a telling one – when he dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim after the batsman had made a patient 61. The table had turned.

(Photo: Harsh Sahani/The Quint)

Jadeja & Jadhav Tie Down Bangladesh

If not for the stingy spell between Jadeja and Jadhav, India could’ve been chasing a score well in excess of 300. But as it turned out, that disciplined spell of 13 overs in tandem by the two spinners kept Bangladesh down to 264-7, which eventually turned out to be way too few.

(Photo: Harsh Sahani/The Quint)

India won the match by 9 runs, setting up a final to savor at The Oval on Sunday.

India and Pakistan have only met in one ICC final — the 2007 Twenty20 showpiece, which was won by India. Pakistan has never won the Champions Trophy while India are two-time champions.

On both teams’ current form, India lost just one match all tournament, to Sri Lanka, while Pakistan bounced back from a 124-run loss to India in its opening group game to beat top-ranked South Africa and Sri Lanka to reach the semis where they beat England.