India were off to a winning start in the Super Four phase of the Asia Cup as they handed Bangladesh a seven-wicket defeat at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE Friday.
India captain Rohit Sharma was unbeaten on 83 off 104 balls, featuring five fours and three sixes, and guided India home in 36.2 overs.after batting failure saw the Tigers struggle their way to 173 in 49.1 overs.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan (40) and former skipper MS Dhoni (33) provided Rohit valuable support as the Tigers succumbed to their second loss in as many days, thus losing the momentum they had built up following their impressive win over Sri Lanka in the tournament opener. Seamer Rubel Hossain, captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza and left-arm spinner Shakib al Hasan took one wicket apiece.
Earlier, Bangladesh looked demoralised throughout the innings as they posted a workmanlike 173 after being asked to bat first.
The Bangladesh innings was built on a 66-run eighth-wicket stand between Mashrafe and youngster Mehedi Hasan Miraz. The duo had come together with Bangladesh reeling on 101 for seven. Mashrafe scored 26 off 32 while Miraz added 42 off 50 with two boundaries and as many over boundaries. The stand was Bangladesh's third highest for the eighth wicket, and all-time highest against India.
Bangladesh lost by 7 wickets against India. #BANvIND pic.twitter.com/7H0RNLO8hz
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) September 21, 2018
Rohit's decision to bowl first came as a surprise to many, given that the conditions are favourable for the side batting first.
The decision to chase by India could have been driven from their confidence that the bowling attack, consisting four spinners, would get Bangladesh all out for a low total, finish the game early and go back to the hotel to rest.
The Indians had one change with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja coming in place of the injured Hardik Pandya.
For Bangladesh, the game was an occasion to come back strong, and they were in full strength, bringing back wicketkeeper-batsman batsman Mushfiqur Rahim and left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman.
The duo were rested in the Afghanistan game the previous day in order to have them fresh for the big game against India.
Here's the match summary of #INDvBAN @imjadeja with the ball and @ImRo45 with the bat were the standout performers #AsiaCup2018 pic.twitter.com/ZK5K0EMJAN
— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) September 21, 2018
Bangladesh in their last group game, against Afghanistan, had a casual mood and wanted not to burn out their cricketers, considering the importance of the game the following day.
The plans however, back fired as Bangladesh lost the momentum, suffering a 136-run defeat to an emerging nation, just ahead of the the crucial Super Four round.
And as feared, the defeat seemed to have shaken Bangladesh's confidence. Bangladesh made a poor start, losing opener Liton Das with just 15 runs on the board.
Four deliveries later and with one run added to the tally, the other opener Nazmul Hossain Shanto also perished, having scored just seven runs in his second ODI.
The dismissals brought two senior men in the middle – Shakib and Mushfiq. The partnership however, sustained for only 26 runs as Shakib gave away his wicket to disastrous shot selection.
That's the 50 partnership between M Mortaza and M Hasan and a crucial one at that!
— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) September 21, 2018
End of 45 overs: BAN - 152/7 #INDVBAN #AsiaCup2018 pic.twitter.com/El0YCyuITI
The left-handed batsman had hit a boundary, a sweep off Jadeja through square-leg, and forced India wicket-keeper MS Dhoni to station a man there.
But shoddy batting by Shakib made him play a repeat shot, of the previous delivery, to a length ball outside off, only to get caught at square leg, who had just come in.
Two more wickets fell soon after with the in-form Mushfiq (21) and Mohammad Mithun (nine) departing, leaving the Tigers tottering on 65 for five, as Jadeja up picked his third wicket in the game having made a comeback in the format after 14 months.
From that point, Mahmudullah and Mosaddek Hossain worked on building the innings, negotiating 89 deliveries to post 36 runs for the sixth wicket, but then Bangladesh lost them in quick succession.
Mahmudullah was out for 25 while Mosaddek was dismissed for 12 before Miraz joined Mashrafe and provided the late impetus to put up some sort of a competitive total on the board.
BRIEF SCORE
India 174/3 in 36.2 overs (Rohit 83, Dhawan 40) beat Bangladesh 173 in 49.1 overs (Miraz 42, Jadeja 4/29) by seven wickets
Bangladesh
Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Mashrafe bin Mortaza (C), Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman
India
Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal
