Kohli sizzles again

Posted by blog master Monday, January 11, 2010

PURPLE PATCH: Virat Kohli came up with another match-winning effort, his unbeaten century propelling India to a comfortable win against Bangladesh on Monday.

MIRPUR: Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 95-ball 102 took India past Bangladesh’s 247 for six with plenty to spare in the final league match of the tri-series here on Monday.

Kohli’s splendid, well-paced hundred included 11 boundaries and kept India in firm control of the chase.

Man-of-the-Match Kohli was involved in crucial stands with Yuvraj Singh and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. which put the visitor on the right track.

Good start

Openers Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik added 64 as India made a solid start. Following their dismissals, Kohli and Yuvraj put on 46 for the third wicket.

Dhoni and Kohli took India closer to the target with a 68-run fourth-wicket stand.

Kohli was confident and composed, and found good support from Suresh Raina (18 off 18) as India eased home in 43 overs.

India, which had already qualified for the final, will take on Sri Lanka in the title clash on Wednesday.

Earlier, Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Mahmudullah scored fighting half-centuries to take the host to 247 for six after it was reduced to 95 for five.

Tyagi impresses

Nehra was the highest wicket-taker for India with two for 58 off 10 overs. New ball bowler Sudeep Tyagi was easily the most impressive, conceding just 24 off six overs and taking the wicket of opener Imrul Kayes.

India captain Dhoni praised Virat Kohli for charting a morale-boosting six-wicket win over Bangladesh before Wednesday’s final against Sri Lanka.

“He is learning quickly from his mistakes and shaping out well. Early on, in his career, he had committed a few mistakes and failed to carry on his innings after a good start. But since the Australia series, he has picked up well which is evident from his performance,” Dhoni said after the match.

Dhoni, however, reminded that it was the all-round performance of the team which was responsible for the good show.

Meanwhile, a disappointed Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan blamed his team for the defeat. “I thought with no dew today we would do better, but that did not happen. We failed to deliver,” he said.

However, he praised young Mohammad Mahmudullah and hoped he would improve in future.

SCOREBOARD

Bangladesh: T. Iqbal c Tyagi b Nehra 17, I. Kayes c Kohli b Tyagi 9, Mohd. Ashraful b Sreesanth 4, R. Hasan (run out) 28, Shakib Al Hasan c Dhoni b Nehra 85, M. Rahim c Raina b Yuvraj 7, Mohd .Mahmudullah (not out) 64, N. Islam (not out) 22; Extras (lb-2, nb-3, w-6): 11. Total (for six wkts. in 50 overs): 247.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-15, 3-60, 4-67, 5-95, 6-201.

India bowling: Tyagi 6-2-24-1, Sreesanth 8-0-53-1, Nehra 10-1-58-2, Mishra 10-0-54-0, Yuvraj 10-1-33-1, Jadeja 6-1-23-0.

India: D. Karthik c Rahim b Shafiul 34, G. Gambhir b Naeem 41, V. Kohli (not out) 102, Yuvraj lbw b Naeem 13, M.S. Dhoni c Kayes b Shakib 32, S. Raina (not out) 18; Extras (lb-6, w-3): 9. Total (for four wkts. in 43 overs): 249.

Fall of wickets: 1-64, 2-87, 3-133, 4-201.

Bangladesh bowling: Rasel 7-0-37-0, Shafiul 10-1-63-1, Razzak 7-0-40-0, Shakib 10-0-58-1, Naeem 8-0-35-2, Mahmudullah 1-0-10-0.

source-www.hindu.com