Nidahas Trophy 2018, Match 2, BAN vs IND, Review: Clinical India cruise past Bangladesh

India have beaten Bangladesh by six wickets in the second T20I of the ongoing Nidahas Trophy at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. They were completely ruthless on the day and never allowed Bangladesh to settle during the course of the game. It was a team performance from them as the Men in Blue chased down the target of 140 easily courtesy Shikhar Dhawan yet again. However, Bangladesh will have to scratch their heads now and have to improve their game considerably even to compete with the other two sides in the series.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first while playing the unchanged side. Bangladesh, on the other hand, fielded five specialist bowlers banking on Mehidy Hasan Miraz to bat lower down the order and score few quick runs. The youngster Nazmul Islam also retained his place after the last T20I against Sri Lanka back home following his bright debut in the series.

Tigers huff and puff throughout

The Men in Blue were tidy upfront with the new ball and didn’t give any loose balls to Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar. The latter played a few shots but was dismissed in the third over by Jaydev Unadkat. Iqbal also looked out of touch during his 16-ball stay and was sent back by Shardul Thakur. Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das though added 31 quick runs and also resurrected the innings in the process. Just when they were getting comfortable in the middle, Rahim threw his wicket away to Vijay Shankar who bagged his maiden scalp.

Soon Mahmudullah was also holed out and the Tigers were staring down the barrel. But Das and Sabbir Rahman batted sensibly even as the Indian bowlers helped them by bowling a handful of wides and no-balls. Both added 35 runs for the fifth wicket which was also the last recognised pair and the fall of Das then brought in Mehidy. The tail could never force the scoring as Rahman also struggled his way to 30. Eventually, they could only post 139 runs for the loss of eight wickets.

Unadkat was the best bowler for the Men in Blue who returned with 3 wickets in his four overs even as Vijay Shankar scalped a couple. Washington Sundar continued to impress and though he was wicketless, he gave away only 23 runs in his spell.

Straight-forward chase

The chase was never going to be a problem for India as they gunned down the target in the 19th over. Rohit Sharma continued his poor run and was castled by Mustafizur Rahman for 17. Rishabh Pant was promoted to bat up the order but yet another chance went in vain for him as his furniture was disturbed by Rubel Hossain in the sixth over to bring some life into the game.

But Shikhar Dhawan once again looked in sublime form as he pummelled the bowlers from the word go and made sure there were no more early hiccups along with Suresh Raina. Both added 68 runs for the third wicket before Rubel came back to dismiss Raina for 28. But the wicket was no less than a consolation for Bangladesh as the victory was in sight for their opponents. Dhawan also threw his wicket away in the quest to finish the game quickly. He scored 55 off just 43 deliveries with 5 fours and a couple of huge sixes.

In the end, it was Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik who stayed unbeaten until the end as India got off the mark in the tri-series. Rubel Hossain was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh who ended the game with a couple of wickets. But the bowlers didn’t have enough runs on the board to put India under any sort of pressure.

Brief Scores

Bangladesh 139/8 after 20 overs (L Das 34, S Rahman 30; J Unadkat 3/38, V Shankar 2/32)

India 140/4 after 18.4 overs (S Dhawan 55; R Hossain 2/24)

Result: India won by 6 wickets

Man of the Match: Vijay Shankar