During the second T20I of the Nidahas Trophy between Bangladesh and India at Colombo, the Indians bowlers displayed a disciplined performance to restrict the Bangladeshi batsmen to 139-8 in 20 overs.
After failing to defend 174 runs against Sri Lanka on the day before yesterday, Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, won the toss and chose to field. India did not opt for any change in the playing eleven for this match. The Indian fans and management would be delighted by this performance of their bowlers, especially after what happened against Sri Lanka.
Also read: Preview: Nidahas Trophy (Ind vs Ban)Jaydev Unadkat, who opened the bowling for India, drew first blood as he dismissed Soumya Sarkar (14) in the third over. India was further relieved after the danger man in Tamim Iqbal (15) failed to cause any damage to the inexperienced India attack. By the end of the powerplay, Bangladesh scored 44-2.
The first over after the powerplay saw Suresh Raina and Washington Sundar dropping two easiest of chances, denying Vijay Shankar his maiden T20I wicket. Shankar eventually got his maiden international wicket in Mushfiqur Rahim (18) as he edged a ball to Dinesh Karthik in the ninth over.
At the halfway stage, Bangladesh had scored a below-average 69-3 and was in desperate need of firepower in the second half of their innings. Unfortunately for them, Shankar got the wicket of Mahmudullah (1) in the following over.
Wickets kept falling for Bangladesh, which denied them of any chance of posting a respectable total on the board. A steady partnership which could provide them with some stability was missing from their innings. Liton Das (34) and Sabbir Rahman (30) top-scored for them but failed to finish the innings to the likes of what they would have expected.
If the Indian pacers were amongst the wickets, the spinners played an instrumental role in restricting the opposition batsmen. With bowling figures of 4-0-38-3, Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of the Indian bowlers. Vijay Shankar (4-0-32-2) also picked up wickets at crucial times. The spinners in Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal conceded 42 runs between them in the eight overs that they bowled.
