India wins Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh in Dubai

In the Champions Trophy match that kicked off on Thursday, Shubman Gill's unbeaten century helped India beat Bangladesh by six wickets, making a strong start. India is the only team in this Champions Trophy playing their matches in Dubai, while the other teams are playing in Pakistan, giving India a dominant position in the game.

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami took 5 wickets for 53 runs, dismissing Bangladesh for a total of 228. At one point, the Bengal Tigers were struggling at 35-5 in the ninth over, but Towhid Hridoy's maiden international century helped them recover.

In response, Gill led India's chase with his eighth ODI century, remaining unbeaten on 101 off 129 balls to secure the win. India finished the game at 231-4 with 21 balls to spare. Gill hit 9 fours and 2 sixes. He shared a 69-run partnership off 59 balls with captain Rohit Sharma for the opening stand, setting India ahead of the required rate, and an 87-run partnership off 98 balls with Lokesh Rahul, who remained unbeaten on 41 and hit the winning shot, a six.

"We know the level that Gill has," Sharma said. "What he's showing us shouldn't surprise anyone. Good to see him stick it out until the end."

Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium but immediately ran into trouble. Soumya Sarkar was caught by Shami in the first over. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was caught at short cover in the second over off Harshit Rana's bowling. In the seventh over, Shami had Mehidy Hasan Miraz caught in the slips.

The ninth over should have ended Bangladesh's innings. Tanzid Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim were caught, and left-arm spinner Axar Patel was on a hat-trick. There had only been one Champions Trophy hat-trick in 19 years. Patel enticed Zakir Ali to edge, and the ball flew to the slips, but Sharma dropped a routine catch. "I might take Axar out for dinner tomorrow," Sharma said. "That was an easy catch that I should have taken."

Instead of collapsing to 35-6 in the powerplay, Bangladesh got a reprieve and took advantage of it. Ali and Hridoy added 154 runs off 206 balls for the sixth wicket, while India stopped accelerating. Hridoy was also dropped by Hardik Pandya and given another chance by Kuldeep Yadav in the 20th over.

Ali was eventually dismissed for 68, caught in the deep off Shami, who claimed his 200th ODI wicket. Hridoy continued on and reached his century, not only his first in ODIs but his first in all forms of the game. His 100 off 118 balls included 6 boundaries and 2 sixes. He and Ali helped Bangladesh pass 200 in the 45th over, but despite the team scoring 63 runs in the last 10 overs, the score was still below par.

"The first powerplay, the way we batted, that cost us the game at that time," Shanto said. "It's very difficult for the lower-order batters to recover. We were short 25 to 30 runs. The way Hridoy and Zakir batted was outstanding."

Besides Shami's sixth five-wicket haul in ODIs, on a spinning pitch, Rana took 3-31 and Patel took 2-43. Chasing 229, Sharma set an early pace, and India raced to 50 in 48 balls. He was caught at cover in the 10th over. Virat Kohli scored 22 off 38 balls, helping India past 100, but was then caught off Rishad Hossain's leg-spin. Shreyas Iyer and Patel fell quickly, leaving India at 144-4 in the 31st over, having lost 3 wickets for 32 runs in 45 balls.

Gill steadied the ship, reaching his fifty off 69 balls. Rahul also started steadily at the other end and enjoyed a reprieve in the 37th over when he was dropped by Taskin Ahmed. Gill and Rahul avoided any further mishaps and cruised home. Gill reached his century off 125 balls, India's slowest in ODIs for six years.

India next play arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, who are the nominal hosts for all matches in the tournament not involving India. Bangladesh will play in Rawalpindi on Monday.