Birmingham: India coasted into the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 final against fierce rival Pakistan by beating Bangladesh by nine wickets on Thursday, guided by an elegant century by Rohit Sharma (123 not out) and a surprising bowling performance by part-time spinner Kedar Jadhav (2/22).
Set a victory target of 265 by a Bangladesh team playing its first semifinal at a global tournament, India never looked in danger as Sharma hit an unbeaten 123 for his 11th ODI hundred and was accompanied at the finish by captain Virat Kohli (96 not out).
They had an unbroken 178-run partnership of 153 balls for the second wicket as Bangladesh's bowlers were smashed around Edgbaston, with Kohli passing 8,000 runs in ODIs.
The defending champions reached their target with 9.5 overs remaining, setting up a final to savour and one that is sure to be watched by hundreds of millions of fans on TV.
India and Pakistan have only met in one ICC final – in the 2007 Twenty20 showpiece, won by India. Pakistan have never won the Champions Trophy while India are a two-time winners.
Bangladesh looked in good shape on 154-2 but lost Tamim Iqbal (70) and Mushfiqur Rahim (61) to Jadhav, an innocuous-looking bowler with an awkward and ungainly style. Jadhav's figures of 2-22 off six overs were surprising given he is rarely used by India, bowling just 30 overs and taking six wickets in 18 ODIs before this semifinal.
Bangladesh finished on 264-7, which was always unlikely to be too short on a good pitch.
The final takes place at The Oval in London on Sunday.
Scorecard
Bangladesh: T. Iqbal b Jadhav 70, S. Sarkar b Kumar 0, S. Rahman c Jadeja b Kumar 19, M. Rahim c Kohli b Jadhav 61, S. Al Hasan c Dhoni b Jadeja 15, M. b Bumrah 21, M. Hossain c & b Bumrah 15, M. Mortaza (not out) 30, T. Ahmed (not out) 10.
Extras: (lb 9, w 7, nb 2, pen 5) 23. Total: (For 7 wkts, in 50 overs) 264.
FoW: 1-6, 2-36, 3-159, 4-182, 5-184, 6-218, 7-229.
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar 10-1-53-2 (1w), Bumrah 10-1-39-2, Ashwin 10-0-54-0 (3w), Pandya 4-0-34-0 (2nb, 2w), Jadeja 10-0-48-1, Jadhav 6-0-22-2 (1w).
India: R. Sharma (not out) 123, S. Dhawan c Hossain b Mortaza 46, V. Kohli not out 96
Extras: 0. Total (for 1 wkt, in 40.1 overs) 265
FoW: 1-87
Bowling: Mortaza 8-0-29-1, Rahman 6-0-53-0, Ahmed 7-0-49-0, Hossain 6-0-46-0, Shakib 9-0-54-0, Hossain 2-0-13-0, Mahmudullah 1-0-10-0, Rahman 1.1-0-11-0
