Rohit, Kohli anchors India into ICC Champions Trophy 2017 final

Birmingham: Rohit Sharma guides India to a nine-wicket win over Bangladesh. The defending champions will now play Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 final against on Sunday.

Rohit Sharma continued his fine run with the bat as he scored his 11th ODI hundred in India’s semifinal match against Bangladesh at Edgbaston on Thursday.

Rohit, who is at the verge of scoring 300 plus runs in the tournament, brought up his hundred in style as he hit a six off Mustafizur Rahman’s bowling in the 33rd over. He scored an unbeaten knock of 123 from 129 balls.

The right-hander batsmen, who has scored two double centuries in the 50-overs format, played an anchoring role in India’s chase and didn’t let the pressure build on skipper Virat Kohli, who came in after Dhawan’s dismissal. On his way to the century, Rohit smashed 12 boundaries and a six.

Coming in after a long injury-break, Rohit set the tone for the tournament with his knock of 91 in India’s 124-run win over Pakistan. Later he scored 78 runs against Sri Lanka in a losing cause.

Chasing a modest total of 264, Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan put on a 87-run partnership to give India a solid start. The duo missed out of another 100-run stand but the left-right combination is now the best opening pair in the history of the ICC Champions Trophy.

In their tournament opener, they shared a 136-run first-wicket partnership. Both Rohit and Shikhar have scored 1195 runs in the ICC tournaments.

Kohli, who joined Rohit in the 15th over, also scored his 42nd ODI fifty and forged an unbeaten 187-run stand with the opener. The Indian skipper has scored 220 runs in four matches.

Earlier, Riding on fluent half centuries from opener Tamim Iqbal and stumper Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh posted 264 for 7.

Tamim (70) and Mushfiqur (61) posted a 123-run third-wicket partnership to steady the Bangladesh ship after the tigers were reduced to 36/2.

Medium pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/53) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/40) maintained a strict line to halt Bangladesh's scoring rate while part-timer Kedar Jadhav (2/22) emerged as the surprise package for the men in blue.

Despite Bhuvneshwar sweeping up opener Soumya Sarkar (0) and one-down Sabbir Rahman (19) early on, the counter-attacking intent from the Bangladesh batsmen kept the scoreboard ticking.

Skipper Virat Kohli's gamble to bowl Jadhav after all-rounder Hardik Pandya was smashed all over the park, worked wonders for the team as the off-spinner managed to break the century stand between Tamim and Mushfiqur.

Jadhav, deceived Tamim with a straight delivery which the southpaw failed to read and instead lost his leg stump while attempting a cross-bat stroke.

The wicket of the dangerous Tamim, who struck seven boundaries and a six, changed the complexion of the game, as Bangladesh failed to keep up the momentum from a comfortable 161/2 after 30 overs to muster 264/7 at the end.

Incoming batsman Shakib Al Hasan (15) fell cheaply to left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja before Jadhav once again struck with the crucial wicket of Rahim soon after.

Rahim, who had faced 85 balls by now and struck four boundaries, failed to clear midwicket where Kohli latched on to a comfortable catch.

Middle-order batsmen Mosaddek Hossain (15) and Mahmudullah (21) -- who was dropped on four by Ravichandran Ashwin -- failed to rise to the occasion. Both the batsmen were sent back by Bumrah in quick succession.

Thereafter, Bangladesh skipper Mashrafee Mortaza (30 not out) and tailender Taskin Ahmed (11 not out) put on a 35-run undefeated eighth-wicket stand to help the side reach 264.

Brief scores
Bangladesh - 264 for 7 (Tamim 70, Rahim 61, Jadhav 2-22, Bumrah 2-39, B Kumar 2-53)
India - 265 for 1 (Rohit 123*, Kohli 96*, Dhawan 46)
Result - India won by 9 wickets