World Cup warm-up: Dhoni, Rahul lead India's rout of Bangladesh; Windies defeat NZ in run-fest

KL Rahul’s stylish hundred at No 4 and a throwback to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s days of yore were the big gains for India in their emphatic 95-run win over Bangladesh in the second World Cup warm-up game in Cardiff on Tuesday.

Rahul (108 off 99 balls) took the attack back to the opposition after early dismissals while Dhoni’s free-spirited approach also got him a century (113 off 78 balls) as their 164-run stand powered India to 359/7 against a Bangladesh attack that went off the boil.

Bangladesh batsmen barring Liton Das (73) and Mushfiqur Rahim (90), who added 120 runs for the third wicket, were never in charge. They were all-out for 264 in 49.3 overs.

If Rahul and Dhoni were the biggest positives to have emerged from batting, Kuldeep Yadav (3/47 in 10 overs) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3/55 in 10 overs) also gained in much-needed confidence going into the tournament proper.

It was a walk in the park for India, whose pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled only 14 out of the 49.3 overs.

For skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri, the biggest satisfaction has to be Rahul’s performance at No 4. His technique was perfect and the risk-free attacking batting as per Shastri’s lingo was “just what the doctor ordered”.

And what could make Rahul’s case even stronger is the fact that Vijay Shankar had a forgettable game (2 off 7 balls and 0/46 in 6 overs) in both departments.

Rahul and Dhoni had contrasting approaches in their batting, which yielded favourable results for the title contenders. Dhoni used the platform created by Rahul to launch a brutal assault in the final overs to take the score past 350.

While Shikhar Dhawan (5) was back in the hut after being adjudged plumb in-front by Mustafizur Rahaman, Rohit Sharma (19 off 42 balls) struggled for the better part of his stay, even as skipper Kohli (47 off 46 balls) looked solid at the other end.

Rahul looked solid from the beginning and found the gaps with ease, hitting 12 boundaries and four sixes. Dhoni’s innings had eight boundaries and as many as seven sixes.

With the composed Dhoni dealing with the singles and the occasional boundary, Rahul was in his flowing self during his stay at the crease. However, after the first 25 balls in which Dhoni scored 24, he suddenly changed gears, attacking young off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraj and Bangladesh were left ducking for cover.

Rahul started with a cut off Abu Jayed followed by an off-drive. Jayed repeatedly provided him width and he beat the off-side cordon with ease. When Shakib bowled short, he was dispatched over the mid-wicket fence for a maximum.

The rusty Shakib (2/58 in 6 overs) was taken to the task by both Rahul and Dhoni, who got easy runs off the world’s No. 1 ranked all-rounder. Rahul hit Mustafizur (1/43 in 8 overs) for two sixes over square leg before being dismissed by Sabbir Rahaman’s part-time spin in the 44th over.

Dhoni then took over and the last overs produced 91 runs with the veteran taking Rubel Hossain (2/62 in 8 overs) to the task in the 45th and 47th overs, scoring 25 runs. In between, the 46th over from Sabbir fetched India 15 runs. His century came with a signature Dhoni six – a down the ground shot off a length delivery from Jayed.

Windies thump Kiwis

Talented youngster Shai Hope smashed his way to a blistering 101 while Andre Russell scored a quickfire 54 down the order to set up a 91-run win for World Cup dark horses West Indies in their warm-up game against New Zealand in Bristol on Tuesday.

Sent into bat, West Indies posted a massive 421 all out with wicketkeeper-batsman Hope toying with the Kiwi bowlers in his 86-ball innings which had nine fours and four sixes.

Opener Evin Lewis contributed a 54-ball 50 but it was Russell who accelerated the West Indies innings towards the end with a 25-ball 54 to take his side past 400. ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle chipped in with a 22-ball 36 at the top of the order.

Chasing 422 for an improbable win, New Zealand suffered a top-order collapse and, despite a hundred from wicketkeeper Tom Blunde (106) and a 64-ball 85 from captain Kane Williamson, they were bundled out for 330 in 47.2 overs.

It was West Indies’ only win from their two warm-up matches, the first one against South Africa being washed out due to rain.

New Zealand lost openers Martin Guptill (5), Henry Nicholls (15) and Ross Taylor (2) cheaply as they were reduced to 33/3 in the 10th over.

Williamson and Blunde kept New Zealand in the hunt with a 120-run partnership for the fourth wicket in 16.1 overs before the Kiwi captain was out in the 26th over when the team score was 153.

Blunde continued for a while but he did not stay for long after completing his century as he was out in the 41st over at the team score of 261/6. He hit eight fours and five sixes in his 89-ball innings.

By the end of the 40th over, the asking rate had risen to more than 16 an over and it was too tall a task for the New Zealand lower order. The New Zealand innings eventually folded for 330 in 47.2 overs.

Pacer Carlos Brathwaite was the most successful West Indies bowler with figures of 3/61 from his eight overs.

Earlier, West Indies batsmen sent the New Zealand bowlers, except for Trent Boult (4/50), to cleaners after being sent into bat.

Hope first shared 84 runs for the second wicket with Lewis before stitching 48 and 43 runs with Darren Bravo (25) and Shimron Hetmyer (27) for the third and fourth wickets respectively. The 25-year-old, who hit two centuries earlier this month against Bangladesh and Ireland during the Tri-Nation Series, continued his good form with yet another top-class performance.

After Hope was out in the 36th over, captain Jason Holder (47) and Russell maintained the high scoring tempo with a 82-run stand from just 6.3 overs to take West Indies past 400.

Coming out to bat at number eight, Russell, who had a phenomenal outing at the Indian Premier League ahead of the World Cup, was at his destructive best yet again as his 54 came from just 25 balls with the help of seven fours and three sixes.

Carlos Brathwaite (24 runs off 16 balls) and Ashley Nurse (21 not out off 9 balls) gave the finishing touches in style with 34 runs between them from 3.2 overs before West Indies were all out for 421 in 49.2 overs.

[Inputs from PTI]