CT 2017: India canter to nine-wicket victory against Bangladesh, reach final

Birmingham, June 15 (IANS) India cantered to a nine-wicket win over Bangladesh in a lopsided second semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Edgbaston Stadium here on Thursday, setting up a clash with arch-rivals Pakistan in the final.

Chasing 265 to win after electing to field first, the defending champions did not flinch for one moment as Rohit Sharma scored his 11th career ton (123 not out) and captain Virat Kohli notched up his 42nd fifty (96 not out) to stitch up an unbeaten 178-run partnership for the second wicket.

Kohli, in the process, became the fastest cricketer in the world to reach 8,000 runs in ODIs in just 175 innings.

In-form opener Shikhar Dhawan continued from where he had left against South Africa with a quickfire (46; 34b; 7x4, 1x6) before getting out to Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza. India won the match with 59 balls to spare.

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

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.

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 Kohli-captained side.