Riding on Rohit Sharma's spectacular 137 off 126 balls, India were able to post a commendable 302 for six after opting to bat at the MCG.
Rohit Sharma blasted a strokeful century as defending champions India stormed into the semi-finals of the World Cup by thrashing hapless Bangladesh by 109 runs, in a lop-sided contest at Melbourne on Thursday.
Riding on Rohit's spectacular 137 off 126 balls and his rollicking 122-run fourth wicket stand with the belligerent Suresh Raina (65), India were able to post a commendable 302 for six after opting to bat at the MCG.
In reply, Bangladesh were never in contention as India hardly took their foot off the pedal to dismiss their neighbours for a paltry 193 in 45 overs without hardly breaking a sweat. The juggernaut continues to roll on for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men who have now recorded their seventh win on the trot in the mega event.
India will now meet the winner of the third quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan at Sydney on March 26. The victory took the tally of India's successive World Cup victories to 11, including four in the last edition, as it was yet another easy outing for the title contenders.
Such has been India's domination that whenever they have batted first in the tournament, they have scored 300 or more and taken all 70 opposition wickets in seven matches so far. Umesh Yadav (4 for 31 in 9 overs) was bang on target during his entire spell, despite a flurry of boundaries by Tamim Iqbal's. Iqbal's run-a-ball 25 ended with Dhoni taking a low catch off Umesh.
World Cup 2015 Quarterfinal India v/s Bangladesh: Rohit's classy ton propels India to 302
Imrul Kayes (5) was run-out due to a mix-up. Two in-form players in left-hander Soumya Sarkar (29) and Mahmudullah Riyadh (21) steadied the ship with 40 run stand before Shikhar Dhawan took an acrobatic catch to get rid of the latter on the boundary line.
Once Mahmudullah was gone there was an air of inevitability about the result with Soumya Sarkar being caught by Dhoni, diving to his left, and Shakib Al Hasan caught at backward point off Jadeja. Mohammed Shami (2 for 37 in 8 overs) took his wicket tally to 17 while Ravichandran Ashwin (0 for 30 in 10 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (2 for 42 in 8 overs) operated well in tandem with the big MCG boundaries as cushion.
The day however belonged to Rohit, who hit his seventh ODI hundred with 14 boundaries and three sixes to his credit while Raina, with seven fours and a six off Shakib Al Hasan, played an equally attractive knock off 57 balls.
Cricket World Cup 2015 Quarterfinal India v/s Bangladesh: India thrash Bangladesh by 109 runs, reach semifinals
Rohit's penchant for scoring big hundreds was again evident as he now has two ODI hundreds at the iconic MCG (he scored 138 vs Australia previously). He got runs when it mattered the most, in a crunch game, with his team under pressure.
While the Mumbaikar paced his innings brilliantly scoring the first 50 off 70 balls and the next 87 runs off only 56 balls, Raina was more adventurous in his shot selection as he treated both pace and spin with equal disdain.
Despite scoring two half-centuries, Rohit has had a quiet tournament.The very first ball bowled by Mashrafe was hit through covers and helped calm his nerves. Shikhar Dhawan handsomely drove Taskin Ahmed in the very next over as the Indian openers were off the blocks. Mashrafe introduced Nasir Hossain’s part-time off-spin as early as the sixth over and Rohit quickly cashed in on the opportunity to loft him over extra cover for a boundary.
While Shikhar was happy to rotate strike, Rohit did hit some audacious shots which included a six down the ground off Nasir.
The first 15 overs yielded 70 runs and the first wicket fell in the 17th over, when Shakib al Hasan was brought into the attack. He induced Dhawan with a tossed up ball, which he missed as Mushfiqur Rahim completed the stumping. Rubel, then got rid of Virat Kohli as he got a thickish edge to a fuller delivery from Rubel Hossain, with Rahim completing formalities.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Rohit-Sharma")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}