Champions Trophy: Rohit hits ton as India set up dream final with Pakistan

India's Rohit Sharma celebrates scoring a century (Reuters)

Opener Rohit Sharma's brilliant century and a superb knock from captain Virat Kohli helped India beat Bangladesh by nine wickets in the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal and set up a dream final with arch-rivals Pakistan.
Rohit Sharma's 11th one-day hundred (123 not out, 129 balls, 15 fours and 1 six) ensured India's fine win after Bangladesh set India a target of 265 in Birmingham on Thursday.
Sharma shared a fine 87-run opening partnership for the first wicket with Shikhar Dhawan (46, 34 balls, 7 fours, 1 six).
After Dhawan got out, Kohli (96 not out, 78 balls, 13 fours) joined Rohit in the middle and what followed next was a superb exhibition of stroke-play from the two gifted Indian batsmen. 
Kohli also became the fastest player to reach the 8000-run landmark in one-day cricket.
Rohit relied on timing as Bangladesh new-ball bowlers - Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed - looked clueless against the Indian batsmen who reached the victory target in 40.1 overs.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli shared an unbeaten 178 runs partnership for the second wicket
Earlier, part-time spinner Kedar Jadhav and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja brought India back into the match after Bangladesh batsmen Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim looked set to put Bangladesh in a commanding position.
Inspired by the two quick wickets from Jadhav and Jadeja, Indian bowlers fought back to restrict Bangladesh to 264/7 in 50 overs.
But at one stage, it looked like Bangladesh would post a 300-plus total on what was a pretty good wicket to bat.  
Despite losing two quick wickets, Tamim (70, 82b 7x4 1x6) was in fine form as the experienced left-hander shared a 123 runs partnership in 21.1 overs with Mushfiqur to give Bangladesh a solid platform.



Indian and Bangladeshi fans brought all their colours and passion to the match in Birmingham on Thursday 
But Indian captain Kohli turned to the part-time spin of Jadhav after ace off-spinner R Ashwin couldn't make any impact on the rival batsmen. 
That turned out to be an inspired move from the Indian captain as Jadav bowled Tamim (70, 82b 7x4 1x6), ending that brilliant partnership. 
Bangladesh, after being reduced to 31/2 in 6.5 overs, then lost Shakib Al Hasan (15) as the star all-rounder was caught behind by MS Dhoni off Jadeja.
Mushfiqur, who had batted so well for his 61 (85b 4x4), threw his wicket away by hitting a low full toss from Jadav straight into the hands of Indian captain Kohli at mid-wicket. 
Bangladesh were 154/2 in 27.5 overs. But those three quick wickets by Jadav and Jadeja had given a India a real chance to restrict their opponents to a modest score.
At the end of 36 overs, Bangladesh were 183/5 with two new men Mosaddek Hossain and Mahmudullah at the crease.
But Mahmudullah and Hossain batted sensibly while never missing a chance to punish the loose balls. 
Hossain (15, 25b 3x4), after adding 39 runs for the sixth wicket with Mahmudullah in 7.1 overs, miss-timed a pull shot to give a simple return catch to Bumrah as Bangladesh lost their sixth wicket at 213/6 in 42.3 overs. 

Virat Kohli celebrates a wicket with Ravindra Jadeja
Bangladesh reached 227/6 in 45 overs. Mahmudullah then got out when he was bowled by Bumrah for 21 (25b 2x4) as Bangladesh lost five wickets for 70 runs after that 123 runs partnership for the third wicket between Tamim and Mushfiqur.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza (30, 25 balls, 5 fours) then led from the front to ensure Bangladesh post a competitive total of 264/7 in 50 overs. 

Tamim Iqbal was the hight scorer for Bangladesh 
But it wasn't enough at the end as the Indian batsmen made a mockery of the Bangladesh attack by winning the match with nine wickets in hand. 
In the first semifinal, Pakistan stunned title-favourites England by eight wickets to reach their first ever Champions Trophy final.
So now all eyes are on Sunday's final after Kohli's men set up a dream finale with their arch-rivals Pakistan. 
Scoreboard
Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal b Jadhav 70; Soumya Sarkar b Kumar 0; Sabbir Rahman c Jadeja b Kumar 19; Mushfiqur Rahim c Kohli b Jadhav 61; Shakib Al Hasan c Dhoni b Jadeja 15; Mahmudullah b Bumrah 21; Mosaddek Hossain c&b Bumrah 15; Mashrafe Mortaza not out 30; Taskin Ahmed not out 10; Extras (lb-9, w-7, nb-2, pen-5) 23. Total (7 wickets; 50 overs) 264.
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Soumya Sarkar, 0.6 ov), 2-36 (Sabbir Rahman, 6.5 ov), 3-159 (Tamim Iqbal, 27.6 ov), 4-182 (Shakib Al Hasan, 34.2 ov), 5-184 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 35.2 ov), 6-218 (Mosaddek Hossain, 42.3 ov), 7-229 (Mahmudullah, 44.6 ov)
Bowling: Kumar 10-1-53-2; Bumrah 10-1-39-2; 10-0-54-0; Pandya 4-0-34-0; Jadeja 10-0-48-1; Jadhav 6-0-22-2.
India
R. Sharma not out 123; S. Dhawan c Mosaddek Hossain b Mashrafe Mortaza 46; V. Kohli not out 96; Extras: 0; Total (1 wkt, 40.1 overs) 265
Fall of wicket: 1-87 (Dhawan)
Bowling: Mortaza 8-0-29-1; Mustafizur 6-0-53-0; Taskin 7-0-49-0; Rubel 6-0-46-0; Shakib 9-0-54-0; Mosaddek 2-0-13-0; Mahmudullah 1-0-10-0; Sabbir 1.1-0-11-0
Result: India won by nine wickets
Man-of-the-match: Rohit Sharma (IND).