The Indian cricket team registered its second consecutive win in the Super Eight stage of T20 World Cup 2024 as the Men in Blue steamrolled Bangladesh in their clash on Saturday, June 22. The Rohit Sharma-led team now has two wins in as many Super Eight encounters.
Led by a stellar batting display from Hardik Pandya and a strong bowling outing by Kuldeep Yadav and others, the Men in Blue thrashed the Bangla Tigers by 50 runs. For his strong batting outing and a wicket with the ball, Hardik was adjudged the Player of the Match. But despite their second win, has Indian team made it to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Has Team India qualified for the T20 World Cup 2024?
The Indian team has more than a foot in the semifinals but has not officially qualified for the semis. The two wins bring them to the top place in the points table but their NRR of +2.425 is still below Australia's +2.471.
India can still get knocked out of the tournament ahead of the semifinals if they lose to Australia in their third Super Eight fixture and Afghanistan register two consecutive wins by big margins - one against Australia and the other against Bangladesh.
Even Bangladesh are not officially out of the race for the semis but their chances are next to impossible. Bangladesh need a very big win and hope India and Afghanistan to beat Australia.
Coming back to the game against Bangladesh, the Indian team was clinical both with the bat and with the ball too. Led by Hardik Pandya's fifty, the Men in Blue made 196/5 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua.
The batters played with great freedom as they are doing throughout this tournament. Virat and Rohit went strong at the top to put up a 39-run opening stand. Despite the fall of wickets, the batters did not put their guard down.
The Indian team was clinical in the defence too. They kept in control with only 27 runs from the first four overs before Hardik came and picked the first wicket for the team. The Bangla Tigers could not keep up with the required rate and kept losing wickets. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto infused some joy to his team's supporters with a stroke-filled 40-run knock from 32 balls. But his stay was ended in the 16th over of Bumrah.
Rishad Hossain hit a few boundaries but could not take his team out of jail as India wrapped up the contest by 50 runs.
