Bangladesh
L. Das c Jadhav b Kumar 7
N. Hossain c Dhawan b Bumrah 7
Shakib c Dhawan b Jadeja 17
M. Rahim c Chahal b Jadeja 21
Md Mithun lbw Jadeja 9
M’mudullah lbw Kumar 25
M. Hossain c Dhoni b Jadeja 12
M. Mortaza c Bumrah b Kumar 26
M. Hasan c Dhawan b Bumrah 42
M. Rahman c Dhawan b Bumrah 3
R. Hossain not out 1
Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-1) 3
Total (all out in 49.1 overs) 173
Fall of wickets: 1/15, 2/16, 3/42, 4/60, 5/65, 6/101, 7/101, 8/167, 9/169
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar 10-1-32-3, Bumrah 9.1-1-37-3, Chahal 10-0-40-0, Jadeja 10-0-29-4, Yadav 10-0-34-0
India
R. Sharma not out 83
S. Dhawan lbw Shakib
A. Rayudu c Mushfiqur b Rubel 13
MS Dhoni c Mithun b Mortaza 33
D. Karthik not out 1
Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-2) 4
Total (3 wickets; 36.2 overs) 174
Fall of wickets: 1/61, 2/106, 3/170
Bowling: Mortaza 5-0-30-1, Miraz 10-0-38-0, Mustafizur 7-0-40-0, Shakib 9.2-0-44-1, Rubel 5-0-21-1
MoM: Ravindra Jadeja
The wake-up call from Hong Kong seems to have worked fine as an alert India picked up their third win in the ongoing Asia Cup, on Friday.
Since that narrow win over Hong Kong in their first match, India have now registered back-to-back thumping victories — first was an eight-wicket triumph against Pakistan on Wednesday, followed by an equally dominating seven-wicket cruise against Bangladesh on Friday.
This, by the way, was India’s first match of the Super Four stage and they have set the tone for their remaining games in the best possible manner.
Everything was just perfect for India at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday. Not so for Bangladesh. After being thrashed by Afghanistan on Thursday, this defeat would surely cause headaches in Mashrafe Mortaza’s team.
Coming back to India, stand-in captain Rohit Sharma won the toss, his decision to bowl first was justified superbly by his bowlers and then he himself led the 174-run chase to complete the formalities. Perfect.
India had won half the battle as soon as they had restricted Bangladesh to 173. Rohit had rightly said at the toss that batting under the lights would be easier. It did turn out so as India reached home in just 36.2 overs.
Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan began on a confident note, treating the loose deliveries with disdain but never overdoing it. Shikhar, who has looked to be the man in form on subcontinent-like wickets in Dubai, was the more aggressive of the two. He made 40 off 47 balls with four boundaries and a six before Shakib-al Hasan trapped him plumb in front of the wicket.
The duo shared a 61-run opening stand. But if Bangladesh thought Shikhar’s dismissal would breathe life into their fight, Rohit proved them wrong. The stylish right-handed batsman shifted gears as soon as his opening partner departed and there was no looking back. He remained unbeaten on 83 off 104 balls with five boundaries and three sixes.
Bangladesh did get the wicket of No.3 batsman Ambati Rayudu (13) in between, but that never threatened to derail India’s chase. Mahendra Singh Dhoni walked out at No.4, a spot higher than what was his batting position in the last two matches, and helped himself to a decent innings of 33 off 37 balls.
Such was the ease with which India batted, it almost seemed that the two innings in the match were played on two different pitches. While Bangladesh were snail-ish in their run-scoring, India seemed to be sailing effortlessly towards their target.
For India, Hardik Pandya’s injury proved to be a blessing in disguise as his replacement, Ravindra Jadeja, was the star performer with the ball during Bangladesh’s innings.
And not just Jadeja, the entire Indian bowling unit were accurate in their job, bundling out Bangladesh for 173 in 49.1 ovs.
The total would have been even lesser for Bangladesh had not all-rounders Mehidy Hasan (42) and Mashrafe Mortaza (26) stitched a 66-run partnership for the eighth wicket.
On a pitch that assisted the bowlers, especially the spinners, Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav dominated, though the latter went wicketless. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah got three wickets each.
Leading the way of course was Jadeja. The left-arm spinner was plucked out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy after Pandya injured his lower back and was ruled out of the tournament. He was straightaway drafted into the playing XI. Jadeja responded to that with figures of 10-0-29-4.
