ADELAIDE: India have defeated Bangladesh by five runs (DLS) in a rain-hit T20 World Cup match on Wednesday.
The rain interruption meant that the Tigers were set a revised target of 151 runs in 16 overs, which they failed to chase down.
The result also dwindled Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the semi-finals, since a win for Bangladesh would have helped their cause.
Pakistan now need to win their remaining games and hope other results go their way in order to make it to the final four.
Earlier, Virat Kohli became the highest run-scorer in Twenty20 World Cup history as he powered India to 184-6 against Bangladesh in a key Super 12 match in Adelaide on Wednesday.
Kohli, who hit an unbeaten 64, and KL Rahul with a blazing 50 put on a key stand of 67 to lay the foundations of a strong total.
India need to win their remaining two matches to be certain of entry into the semi-finals, but Bangladesh are also in the hunt for the knockout stage.
Kohli beat former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene’s total of 1,016 runs in his 23rd innings in T20 World Cups. Jayawardene set his previous World Cup-leading mark off 31 innings.
The in-form Kohli, who had already hit two match-winning half-centuries at this World Cup, reached his third fifty in 37 balls to bring alive the Indian-dominated crowd in Adelaide.
Taskin Ahmed kept India on the backfoot in a lethal opening burst of seam and swing bowling after Bangladesh elected to field first.
Indian fans had their hearts in their mouths when Taskin got Rohit Sharma to mistime a hit to deep backward square, but Hasan Mahmud dropped the catch.
Skipper Rohit could not capitalise as Mahmud had his revenge in the next over to get the opener out for two.
Rahul had other ideas and shrugged off his poor form to take on the attack with a flurry of boundaries and Kohli joined in from the other end.
Rahul, who had scored just 17 runs in the previous three matches, smashed two sixes and a four in a 24-run ninth over as the Indian run-rate soared.
He reached his fifty off Shakib Al Hasan but fell on the next ball from the left-arm spinner.
There was no respite for the Bangladesh bowlers as Suryakumar Yadav joined Kohli to keep up the attack, nonchalantly hitting the ball to all parts of the ground.
Shakib struck again to cut short Yadav’s innings on 30 off 16 balls.
Kohli slowed down after the two wickets but soon changed gears with two boundaries and took the attack until the end with help from Ravichandran Ashwin’s six and four in the final over.
