Intro-
The 2nd warm-up match for both the teams India and Bangladesh in CWC 2019 will be played at Sophia Garden, Cardiff. Bangladesh will be on a high after recently concluded Tri-series in Ireland where they won each and every match against Ireland and West Indies chasing. Even though there first warm-up match against Pakistan was washed off with heavy rains at this same venue, they will be in high spirit to play against India who had lost badly against New Zealand on 25th may. The Bangladeshi team was literally unchanged from their final match against West Indies to abandoned game against Pakistan.
With their batsmen S. Sarkar(193 runs), Tamim Iqbal(176 runs), Mushfiqur Rahim (166 runs) and Shakib Al Hasan (140 runs), all scoring good runs it will be a good match practice for Indian bowlers. While Bangladesh’s bowlers Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman both picking 6 wickets each and Abu Jayed picking 5 wickets in 2 matches, it won’t be a walk in park for Indian batsmen either.
While the pitch at Cardiff allows some high scoring it still is in favour of teams chasing scores, Kohli if he wins the toss should be aiming to bowl first. Indian team does not have much of a great record to talk about in warm-up matches, it will be a good contest between the neighbors.
The Game As It Was Played-
India 359 for 7 (Dhoni 113, Rahul 108, Shakib 2-58) beat Bangladesh 264 (Mushfiqur 90, Liton 73, Kuldeep 3-47) by 95 runs
The 10th warm-up match of CWC 2019 in England was played between India and Bangladesh at Cardiff. Virat Kohli lost the toss and Mashrafe Mortaza opted to bowl first on a pitch which had some grass in the middle, with dry patches around the edges. Put into bat in overcast conditions, Indian batsmen didn’t disappoint the fans.
A strong opening combination which wasn’t performing at the moment was a major problem, with Team India having another problem at no. 4. The Indian innings started confidently with a shot hit over the cover region for 3 runs by Rohit. After that it was a slow start by openers with Dhawan getting out to Rahman. On one end Rohit was playing a slow game and trying to read the pitch and get acclimatized to English conditions, while Kohli was in a hurry hitting some fine boundaries all around the ground.
He was looking really good before perishing to a perfect Yorker by Rahman, which he tried hitting towards mid-wicket for another boundary. Rohit played 42 balls for 19 runs with one boundary to his name before being bowled by Rubel Hossain, which was yet another set-back. Shankar playing his 1st match after injury didn’t last on the pitch for more time.
KL Rahul who came into bat at no. 4 played some splendid shots along with Dhoni who scored a fast paced century. Both scored 100’s in a 164 run 5th wicket partnership. KL raised bat with 108 runs in 99 balls while Dhoni did same for 113 runs of 78 balls. Pandya scored 21 runs off 11 balls to take Indian score to 359/7 at end of 50 overs. For Bangladesh, Shakib Hasan and Rubel Hossain picked 2 wickets each, while Saif even though picked up just 1 wicket, bowled the ball of the match to dismiss Kohli.
Indian bowling had seen some issues with Bhuvi not in full form, while the spinners Kuldeep and Chahal not amongst wickets. The 2nd innings started with Shami opening bowling with Bumrah. Bumrah as usual kept the bowling tight and picked up a couple of wickets, while Bhuvi even though didn’t leak too many runs, couldn’t swing the ball.
Bangladesh got a good start with a 49 run partnership in 9 overs, followed by back to back wickets for Bumrah. Young Liton Das who opens for Bangladesh gave a hard time to the Indian bowlers along with Mushfiqur Rahim, as they put on a 120 run partnership. It was Liton who impressed everyone, before getting stumped eventually in Chahal’s bowling, while trying to come down the pitch.
The spinner slowed down his pace and bowled short to defeat Liton in flight and let Dhoni do the needful. This wicket brought the downfall for the Bangladeshi innings, with Chahal and Yadav picking 6 wickets among themselves ending the innings on 264 all out in last over.
India won the warm up match by 95 runs. The team was in high spirit with KL Rahul and Dhoni scoring 100’s and the spinners among wickets, who will play a big part as the season progresses. The pitches will surely get dry and slower to better suit Indian Spinners and hopefully they can make the most of it. The only main issue right now is the opening partnership between Rohit and Dhawan, which needs to be solved for India to Win its 3rd World Cup.
