India had a reason to smile at the MCG yesterday right from the moment M.S. Dhoni called correctly at the toss. It gave the defending champions the chance to bat first, something they last did in this tournament on their last visit to the MCG when they took on South Africa. They got over 300 in that game and comfortably won and yesterday’s quarter-final encounter with Bangladesh followed a very similar pattern.

The Indian openers settled for a steady start as opposed to a quick beginning. It seemed like the plan was to keep wickets in hand till about the 30th over and then up the tempo.

I thought they were perhaps slightly short of where they wanted to be when they lost Kohli but then Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina took charge and ensured India had sufficient runs on the board at the end of 50 overs. Sharma’s knock was particularly instrumental given that he had been short of runs.

Bangladesh did a decent job till the 25-over mark but you just sensed that they needed a couple of more wickets a little earlier than they eventually got them to apply further pressure on India.

With the bat, they came unstuck once the openers departed and when Mahmudullah fell to a great catch by Dhawan on the boundary, the game was virtually over.

India’s bowlers stayed true to the great form they’ve shown since the World Cup got underway. What’s notable has been the number of wickets they’ve picked up with the short ball.

So the champs march on to Sydney where they will contest the second semi-final against today’s winners between Australia and Pakistan.

Much as Pakistan look to have recovered from their woeful start, I fancy our boys to progress. Hearing Shane Watson talk about Pakistan’s split personality issue, I couldn’t help think to myself, now where have I heard that before?

Mohammad Irfan’s injury does leave a void in the bowling, but then Misbah-ul-Haq has been able to rely on Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan to pretty good effect. Australia’s batsmen should be a stern test for them considering that everyone’s had a good hit from Aaron Finch to Glenn Maxwell.

For me, the key will be how Australia’s top-order get on. If Warner and Finch get us off to a flyer, you’re looking at a huge total with the batting that follows. Assuming Watson plays, I expect he’ll bat lower down which should allow Maxwell to play the way he relishes playing.

By Special Arrangement for Dawn

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2015

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