Twitter Reactions: After a great start Bangladesh settle for 264

Virat Kohli won the toss on a gloomy morning at the Birmingham Stadium of Edgbaston. He decided to bowl first and that was the preferred decision considering the overcast conditions and his team’s strength in chasing targets. Team India was off to a really good start with Bhuvneshwar Kumar getting the early breakthrough as Soumya Sarkar dragged one back onto his stumps. Bhuvi soon had Sabbir Rahman caught at backward point.

Bangladesh were 2 down for 36 runs and it wasn’t how they would’ve liked the innings to get off. The repair had to be done but then there was the danger of allowing the Indian bowlers to get on top and choke them for runs. Tamim Iqbal who has been their most consistent batsman in the tournament thus far stitched a defying partnership with Mushfiqur Rahim.

They opted for a counter-attacking approach and all of a sudden the Indian team was caught off guard. The runs were leaking from both ends with Tamim especially relishing the short of the length, medium pace stuff Hardik Pandya had on offer. The allrounder went for 34 runs in his 4 overs and Virat Kohli could feel the pressure.

The partnership was worth more than a hundred in no time and the skipper now had to pull a rabbit out of his hat. He threw the ball towards Kedar Jadhav who has a slinging action and bowls off-spin. He bowled a lot wider close to the wide marker and away from the batsmen. It didn’t just help them stop the run flow but also forced the batters to over attack.

Jadhav smartly brought one back and Tamim lost his leg-stump on 70. The 123-run partnership was broken and the opening gave Team India an opportunity to come back in the game. They cashed upon it as the man with the golden arm soon also accounted for the wicket of Rahim the other set batsman for 61.

Ravindra Jadeja didn’t allow Shakib Al Hasan to settle in and got an edge that was taken safely by MS Dhoni behind the wickets. Bangladesh were now 5 down for 184 in the 36th over it was just a matter of time before the Indian death bowlers came in and they were spot on with their game.

Both Bhuvi and Bumrah bowled the line and length they were expected to, didn’t give the batsmen anything to hit, the only boundaries that came were with edges, though Bangladesh wouldn’t mind those it gave the bowlers confidence. Bumrah knocked Mahmudullah’s stumps with a Yorker and caught and bowled Mosaddek Hossain for 21 and 15 respectively.

At the end of the 50 overs the Bangladeshi team managed 264 which isn’t a great total but certainly gives them a score to defend.

Here are some of the best reactions that appeared on Twitter during the course of the inning: