Bangladesh show the good, bad and the ugly

There were not a lot of people who gave Bangladesh a chance during the mid-innings break. It would be a tough chase for any team against an Indian bowling line-up that's been firing in the tournament. Bangladesh haven't been a particularly good batting side when the ball swings and they were up against one of the world's best swing bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh, who has been swinging the ball as much as his new-ball partner of late.

But it was Litton Das who landed the first punch. Now, Litton did not open in any of Bangladesh's three matches in the World Cup prior to that. After reclaiming his preferred position, he was into his elements quickly on a pitch that had true bounce and value for orthodox cricketing shots.

India's innings had three great contributions - the fifties from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul and a quick-fire 30 from Suryakumar Yadav - but the innings from Litton should be the more memorable one. It was audacious. It was outrageous. The fifty came inside the powerplay and Litton was the first man to do so against a full member in the history of the T20 World Cup. 

It was the second-fastest fifty by a Bangladeshi batter (after Mohammad Ashraful against the West Indies) and Litton brought up his half-century by hitting Mohammed Shami for a six over the on side, exactly what Ashraful did to Fidel Edwards in that West Indies game in 2007.

But it never seemed like he was hitting the ball hard. "I knew good cricketing shots would be the key," said Virat Kohli after the match about Australian conditions and that's what was also evident from Litton's batting - until the heavens opened up.

Bangladesh were way ahead of the DLS par score and the rain break gave the Indian fans at the Adelaide Oval and back home an almighty scare. On the other hand, Bangladesh were sniffing a rare victory against India in the shortest format and hoping that the Adelaide Oval would, once again, be good to Bangladesh.

The target for Bangladesh was to score 85 off nine overs with all 10 wickets in hand. The required run rate was 9.44, almost similar to what they needed at the beginning of the chase. The conditions were not probably ideal for cricket to resume. India's throw-down specialist Raghu was seen running around with a brush in hand to clean the shoes of the players at the boundary. It was wet and muddy. Litton Das slipped while completing a run immediately after play resumed. But having said that, it was really Bangladesh's game to lose when it resumed.

It was still their game to lose when Litton Das, their set batter, was run out in the first over after the rain break. They still had a host of capable batters who could have won Bangladesh the game. But what followed was inexplicable. And it was the umpteenth time Bangladesh absolutely choked under pressure. 

Najmul Hossain Shanto's innings is hard to explain but Bangladesh still had a huge opportunity even after the dismissal of Litton and Shanto. 52 off five overs with eight wickets in hand. It's difficult to imagine that a team with so much international exposure failed to chase that and were left with too many - 20 off the final over - in the end.

Bangladesh batters probably forgot that they didn't need to hit every ball out of the ground to get ten-an-over. Two of Bangladesh's vital cogs in the wheel - Afif Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan - went for glory with no timing and it led to Bangladesh's downfall. The rest of the batters did the same. Mosaddek Hossain started his innings in the best fashion possible - with a typical Mosaddek six over extra cover - but the problem arose when he tried to repeat the shot. It was premeditated and Mosaddek didn't pick the length. The result was a crushing sound of the timber. 

All of the batters seemed to be in a hurry and kept on going for sixes. India's tight bowling made things more difficult for them. It was not an easy task to defend 84 off nine when the opponents had all 10 wickets intact with a batter going great guns. Arshdeep Singh was taken down by Litton in his first over by Litton but the way he came back and executed the yorkers in his next three overs was outstanding.

India's fielding was a big plus also. It hasn't been going well for a while but they were fantastic after the rain break. The skiers were difficult to judge as it was windy. But the fielding against Bangladesh will help Rahul Dravid heave a sigh of relief after their rather poor show against South Africa. 

Litton was probably reminded of his magnificent Asia Cup final century in 2018 against the same opposition. It was another one-man show, just like Wednesday, with the bat and India notched up a last-ball win. Bangladesh continue to fail to close out games against India. No one will forget that Bangalore game in 2016. And it was an addition to the very long list of games where Bangladesh failed to finish well under pressure.