Another heart-breaker against India

Bangladesh could have pulled a rabbit out of a hat and snatched a famous win against India in the T20 World Cup yesterday after an electrifying 50 from Liton Das saw them come out of a rain delay 17 runs ahead of the DLS par score.

But once again a Bangladesh-India thriller resulted in a heart-breaking five-run loss for the Tigers in Adelaide in yet another World Cup encounter.

Bangladesh were flying high in chase of a sizeable 185-run target after a Liton special. The stylish right-hander mixed class with a great deal of aggression and smashed the second-fastest half-century by a Bangladeshi in T20 World Cup history off just 21 balls.

Bangladesh took the attack to an experienced Indian bowling department and were cruising at 66 without loss after seven overs when rain interrupted the game.

But things changed dramatically for Bangladesh after the match resumed and they were set a revised target of 151 from 16 overs, beginning with Liton's unfortunate run out for a 27-ball 60. Bangladesh then went on to lose five wickets while scoring just 24 between overs 9-13, which took the game away from them.

However, Nurul Hasan Sohan's quickfire 14-ball 25 kept hopes alive till the final ball of the game.

"That has been the story when we play against India. We are almost there but we can't cross the finish line," Shakib said before going on to praise Liton during the post-match presentation.

"He's batting really well. He's probably our best batsman at the moment. The way he batted in the first six overs gave us a lot of momentum and we started to believe that we could chase this total with the small boundaries on the sides and the ball coming onto the bat nicely."

Earlier Bangladesh's bowlers had also started off well, with in-form seamer Taskin Ahmed bowling brilliantly to keep a strong Indian top order quiet during Powerplay. Despite going wicketless, the right-arm pacer was economical and gave away just 15 runs from four overs.

But in-form Virat Kohli's unbeaten 64 off 44 balls and KL Rahul's return to form with a half-century helped India post a fighting total.

Bangladesh's hopes of qualifying for the semifinals were virtually dashed after the defeat but Shakib believed it would be important to carry their momentum into the game against Pakistan.

"We've been very relaxed inside the dressing room. We've not been talking much about cricket. We wanted to enjoy this World Cup and that's what we've been doing. We played a very good game of cricket and we have one more match. Hopefully we can continue this," he said.

India skipper Rohit Sharma said that they held their nerve and that helped the side stage a comeback after the rain delay.

"I was calm and nervous at the same time, but it was important for us as a group to stay calm and execute the plan. It was a shortened game and it could have gone either way. With 10 wickets in hand, it could go either way but we held our nerve pretty well when the game started after the break," Rohit said.