Rohit Sharma stamped his class with an authoritative hundred in the company of magnificent Virat Kohli as India annihilated Bangladesh by nine wickets to set up a bumper summit showdown with arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy, in Birmingham, on Thursday.
The lazy elegance of Rohit (123 not out from 129 balls) coupled with the unmatched swagger of skipper Kohli (96 not out from 78 balls) ensured India treat Bangladesh's attack with utter disdain, knocking off a modest target of 265 in 40.1 overs.
This was after some inspired bowling changes from Kohli, including the introduction of part-time off-spinner Kedar Jadhav, which changed the complexion of the game with Bangladesh managing only 264 for seven in 50 overs.
Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan (46) again provided India with the perfect start as they put on 87 runs for the opening wicket.
And then came skipper Kohli, who treated the opposition attack as a bunch of net bowlers, adding 178 runs for the second wicket off 153 balls.
The Indian captain also reached a personal milestone of 8000 ODI runs in his 183rd match, becoming the fastest player to do so.
The gulf between the two teams was evident in the manner the Indian batsmen toyed with the Bangladesh attack.
Anything short outside the off-stump was cut with ferocity. If the short ball was on leg and middle, it was dutifully pulled by Rohit, Kohli or Dhawan.
Rohit, who is playing his first international tournament in six months, once again showed during his 11th ODI hundred as to why he is so highly rated in the limited overs format.
He smashed 15 boundaries and a hooked six off Mustafizur to complete his hundred.
Kohli, who finished the match with a boundary, hit 13 of them as India put a dominating performance with the bat.
They will take on Pakistan in the final at the Oval in London on Sunday.
Part time off-spinner Kedar Jadhav's 'golden arm' provided decisive twin blows, helping defending champions India restrict Bangladesh to 264 for seven in the second semi-final of the Champions Trophy in Birmingham on Thursday.
Jadhav’s 2/22 in six overs brought India back into the game as he took the crucial wickets of Tamim Iqbal (70) and Mushfiqur Rahim (61) with his fastish off-breaks.
The two wickets proved to be the difference between Bangladesh only managing 264 instead of a projected 310 after Tamim and Rahim had added 123 runs for the second wicket in only 21.1 overs. Once Kedar was done with his job, Jasprit Bumrah (2/40 in 10 overs) played his regular part to perfection stifling the opposition with as many as 40 dot balls.
The third Powerplay (41-50) saw Bangladesh scoring only 62 runs primarily due to a cameo from skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (30 no off 25 balls).
Bumrah's senior partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/53) complemented him well with couple of dismissals first up. Bangladesh lost momentum when Jadhav first got rid of the dangerous Tamim, who tried an ugly slog sweep to a delivery that was fired down at middle and leg. He missed the line completely to be bowled.
In a space of a few overs, Jadhav was back in thick of things, this time getting Rahim to drive uppishly which went straight to skipper Virat Kohli at mid-wicket.
Jadhav was an inspired choice for Kohli as his fifth bowler Hardik Pandya had an off-day, giving away 34 in his four overs including one over where he got Tamim out twice – caught off a free-hit and then bowled off a no-ball.
Ravindra Jadeja (1/48 in 10 overs) got Shakib Al Hasan (15) caught by Mahendra Singh Dhoni between the dismissals of Tamim and Rahim.
From 154 for two, Bangladesh slumped to 179 for five, once again fluffing their lines during the crucial death overs.
It was Bumrah who took charge during the death overs. He scared the hell out of Mosaddek Saikat (15) with a barrage of short balls which got him a simple caught and bowled.
Bangladesh’s last hope for a big score was Mahmudullah Riyadh (21), who got the perfect yorker and he could have done nothing about it.
Bangladesh badly needed Mahmudullah, a century maker in the win over New Zealand last week, to regain the momentum but he was only able to make 21 off 25 balls before being bowled by a fine Jasprit Bumrah yorker.
Earlier, both Tamim and Shakib didn’t take too many risks but got the scoreboard ticking raising hopes of a big total when they were comfortably placed at 154 for two.
Tamim’s 82 ball innings had seven fours and a flicked six off Hardik Pandya while Rahim hit four boundaries in his 85-ball knock.
In fact after three successive boundaries off a Bhuvneshwar over, Rahim was keener on rotating the strike.
They in fact negotiated Ravichandran Ashwin (10-0-54-0) well without taking any undue risks. While Ashwin bowled 27 dot balls, he did not bowl any wicket-taking deliveries.
Earlier, India won the toss and opted to field against Bangladesh.
India picked the same team that played in their previous game against South Africa while Bangladesh too did not make any changes from the eleven that played against New Zealand.
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