Match Report
Asia Cup 2018 (Final): India won their seventh Asia Cup after the last-ball thriller against the heart-broken Bangladesh
By Sandy - Sep 29, 2018 2:35 am
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India clinched their seventh Asia Cup trophy and sixth ODI Asia Cup trophy after winning the last-ball thriller against Bangladesh in the final of Asia Cup 2018 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium (Dubai) on Friday.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma decided to field first after winning the toss in the crucial final. Bangladesh openers finally provided a brilliant start as the openers Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz put a 120-run partnership.

Bangladesh openers Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz

While Das dominated over the Indian bowlers, Miraz scored 32 runs off 59 balls (3 fours). But since that partnership was broken, Bangladesh lost their next wickets in regular intervals.

Also read: Ravindra Jadeja Produced A Match-winning Run-out

Das remained still on the crease in those next tough periods and completed his maiden international century in 87 balls. Das scored 121 runs off 117 balls (12 fours and 2 sixes) and stuck to the crease till the 40th over, before losing his wicket on the 41st over through the stumping.

Liton Das after completing his maiden international century

Also watch: MS Dhoni Helps Kuldeep Yadav To Take Wickets 

Apart from the openers, the no.7 batsman Soumya Sarkar managed to reach the double-digit scores in that innings as he scored 33 off 45 balls (only four and only six) before losing his wicket through the run-out on 49th over. None of other Bangladesh batsmen even reached to the double-digit scores in that innings and Bangladesh was bundled out for just 222 runs in 48.3 overs.

Among the Indian bowlers, the left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (3/45) picked up three wickets while the off-spinner Kedar Yadav (2/41) got two wickets. Also, the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (1/31) and the pacer Jasprit Bumrah (1/39) took one wicket each.

Indian cricket team

Also watch: Brilliance Of MS Dhoni and Jasprit Bumrah Bundled Out Bangladesh

In reply, Indian team lost their wickets in regular intervals as the opener Shikhar Dhawan (15) and no.3 batsman Ambati Rayudu (2) fell cheaply while another opener and the skipper Rohit Sharma scored 48 runs off 55 balls (3 fours and 3 sixes) before getting caught out.

From that difficult situation, Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni delivered a 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket. But both were dismissed at the crucial stages as the team again fell in trouble as Karthik (37) and Dhoni (36) both were dismissed on the 30s. Soon, Kedar Jadhav was retired hurt on 19 runs due to the hamstring injury as India was struggling 167/5 and the new two batsmen were on the crease (Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar).

In that crucial stage, Jadeja and Kumar provided a crucial 45-run partnership for the sixth wicket and that helped the team to reach the final stage of the game. Both Jadeja (23) and Kumar (21) were dismissed at the last moment, but Kedar Jadhav (23*) and Kuldeep Yadav’s (5*) unbroken eighth wicket partnership sealed the game for India on the last ball of the game.

Kedar returned to the crease after Jadeja’s dismissal but Kedar played perfectly to finish the game for the Indian cricket team. India needed 6 runs in the final over of Mahmudullah and the equation changed to one run from the last ball of the game which Kedar and Kuldeep snatched through a leg-bye.

Kedar Jadhav

It was the heart-breaking game for spirited Bangladesh cricket team who just failed to win their first ever big trophy in international cricket history. Among the Bangladeshi bowlers, Mustafizur Rahman (2/38) and Rubel Hossain (2/26) bagged two wickets each while Nazmul Islam (1/56), skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (1/35) and Mahmudullah (1/33) picked up one wicket each.

Mustafizur Rahman

The centurion Liton Das won the Player of the Match award while the Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan won the Player of the Series award who finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer (342 runs).

Here are some Twitter reactions:

https://twitter.com/bhaiyyajispeaks/status/1045763872102051840

https://twitter.com/sanket_daksha/status/1045764527181230081

https://twitter.com/VirendarsSehwag/status/1045766138511028224