• Magnificent Sharma inspires India to win

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    Rohit Sharma notched up his fourth century of the World Cup to steer India to a 28-run victory over Bangladesh at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

    Sharma worked his way towards entrenching himself in the record books as he went level with Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) as the only player with four 100s in a single edition.

    With five in total, another record looms as now he sits just one World Cup century behind his countryman Sachin Tendulkar.

    It was his opening stand with KL Rahul that set the tone for the outing as the pair put on 180 when Sharma headed back to the hut with 20 overs remaining. With the hindsight of victory, the Indians will do well to work out the reasons why they managed to add just 134 in the remaining overs.

    All of Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni could not manage much more than run-a-ball knocks worth 26, 48 and 35 respectively as wickets fell regularly thanks to Mustafizur Rahman. It was his effort (5-59) that restricted India to 314-9 in their 50 overs.

    Bangladesh threatened throughout their innings, but the collective power of the Indian bowling lineup prevented a threat from becoming something more ominous.

    Once more, Shakib Al Hasan top-scored for the Tigers with 66 (74) but the wickets continued to fall as India worked manfully towards victory.

    Jasprit Bumrah showed his class as he collected three wickets to stifle the Bangladesh innings. Ultimately, they fell short of a famous run chase.

    Spare a thought for Al Hasan, who became the first player to score over 500 runs and take 10-plus wickets in a single World Cup.

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    Wade Pretorius