Asia Cup T20 Final Review: India crush Bangladesh to be crowned the Asia Cup T20 champions

The stage was set for the all-important finale of the Asia Cup T20 at Mirpur. The trophy would definitely have been shared between India and Bangladesh had the storms and rains not subsided in time. Some heavy showers soaked the ground to an extent from where the game seemed improbable. But some fantastic drainage and superb work from the ground staff along with some mercy of rain Gods gave the audiences a rain curtailed 15-over match.

The maturity and calmness of Indian batsmen stood between Bangladesh and the Asia Cup title. Despite getting an early blow, a marathon 94-run stand between Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan took India past the target of 120 as India lifted their 6th Asia Cup trophy and their 2nd under MS Dhoni.

Chasing 121 for the championship, India were rocked back with the dismissal of Rohit Sharma (1) in the second over as he was dismissed by Al-Amin Hossain with the scorecard reading 5/1. The in-form batsmen, Virat Kohli, joined Shikhar Dhawan at the crease. The duo took their time to settle down and ease out at the wicket. But once the Delhi boys were set, they found it easy pickings manoeuvring the ball all around the ground. Dhawan, who had a poor run in the series before this game, looked in good touch as he fancied his chances against Shakib Al Hasan.

He changed gears as he hit Mortaza for a six behind square and the stadium had pin drop silence. The Bangladeshi fans could see a defeat coming. Dhawan brought up his half-century soon. Kohli and Dhawan put on 94 runs off 67 balls for the 2nd wicket before Soumya Sarkar pulled off a blinder at point to dismiss Dhawan of the bowling of Taskin Ahmed. The southpaw scored 60 off 44 balls with 9 fours and a six.

In walked Indian skipper MS Dhoni and the finisher took no time to finish the game. Needing 19 off the last two, the ball was given to Al-Amin with Dhoni on strike. He hit a six and followed it up with another boundary. With 5 to get off 8 balls, Dhoni finished off in style as he clobbered Al-Amin over mid-wicket for a massive six. He absolutely bludgeoned the Bangladeshi bowlers to score 20 off 6 balls and take India to a victory. Kohli remained unbeaten on 41 (28) as India won by 8 wickets with 7 balls to spare.

Earlier in the day, India skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Bangladeshi openers, Soumya Sarkar and Tamim Iqbal gave a decent start to Bangladesh. They took a liking to Ashish Nehra’s bowling and spanked him for 3 boundaries in his second over. Nehra came back strong to dismiss Sarkar for 14 off 9 balls in the 4th over. Bumrah got rid of Tamim Iqbal in the very next over. Iqbal could manage 13 off 17 balls as Bangladesh were 30/2 in 4.4 overs.

Sabbir Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan steadied things for the hosts and Shakib soon stepped on the accelerator, playing some handy cheeky shots. Just when the duo started settling down, Ashwin trapped Shakib to dismiss him for 21 (16) in the 10th over. Mushfiqur couldn’t contribute much either and was run out by Kohli in the 12th over on 5. Skipper Mortaza got a golden duck to his name as he was caught at deep mid-wicket off the bowling of Jadeja on the very next ball.

Things looked bleak for Bangladesh as they were reeling on 75/5 in 11.4 overs. But Mahmudullah produced a gem of an innings to help them post a par looking score. The penultimate over saw Hardik Pandya go for 21 runs as Mahmudullah hit him for a couple of maximums. India were staring at a target close to 130 but a decent last over from Bumrah, that produced just 7 runs, saw Bangladesh end on 120/5 in their stipulated 15 overs. Mahmudullah remained unbeaten on 33 (13) and Sabbir scored 32* (29).

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh – 120/5 in 15 Overs (Mahmudullah 33; Bumrah 1/13)

India – 122/2 in 13.5 Overs (Dhawan 60; Taskin 1/14)

How did Twitter react to India’s magnificent win? – Twitter Reaction: India play like champions to lift the Asia Cup with authority