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 and chased the target of 140 comfortably with 8 balls to spare and 6 wickets in hand, with the help of another century from Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan.
After failing to defend 174 runs against Sri Lanka on the day before yesterday, Rohit Sharma, the Indian skipper, 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: Mid-innings - 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. 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.
In the second innings, Indian team registered their first win of the Nidahas Trophy 2018. Bangladesh didn’t have a single phase in this game where they appeared to be in control. India made the chase look pretty easy in the end, despite some losing a couple of wickets. Yet another fifty for Shikhar Dhawan, who’ll be disappointed he didn’t get the men in blue over the line. A steady contribution from Suresh Raina (28), Manish Pandey(27) as well help India finish the chase.
The fact that Bangladesh couldn’t lay into a young looking Indian side that was conceding extras and dropping catches — as many as four — is disturbing. And then to see young batsmen and Rohit Sharma fail in a chase supported solely by the genius of Dhawan must hurt, assuredly, as he made sure that Team India don. The lone performer from Bangladesh’s team was Rubel Hossain who sent back Suresh Raina and Rishabh Pant. Fro his brilliant performance with the bowl, Vijay Shankar has been adjudjed as the man of the match.
Brief scores: India – 140/8 (Shikhar Dhawan – 55; R Hossain – 2/24) defeated Bangladesh – 139/8 (L Das – 24; J Unadkat – 3/38)
