By: Drcricket7 Staff
On expected lines, India started their Asia Cup campaign against Bangladesh with a bang in Mirpur, and blanked the hosts by 45 runs to show why they are the No. 1 team in the T20 format right now.
Put to bat on a pitch that wasn’t a batting paradise, India did reasonably well to make 166 for six and, in reply, Bangladesh were restricted by Ashish Nehra & Co. to a score of 121 for seven in the 20 stipulated overs.
However, there was a minor hiccups when India started the proceedings in the first essay of the match. Within four overs of the match, India lost their opener Shikhar Dhawan and one-down batsman Virat Kohli.
Soon, Suresh Raina too got back to the pavilion and the centre stage was left open for Rohit Sharma to wield his magic once again.
Fortune favoured Rohit when he was on 21 when Shakib Al Hasan dropped a chance to dismiss the Mumbai batsman, who eventually finished with 83 off 55 deliveries.
This knock destroyed all the hard work Bangladesh had done with the ball in the initial part of the Indian innings. In the end, Rohit emerged as the winner and the player of the match.
He also a had little partnership with Yuvraj Singh but the one with Hardik Pandya changed the complexion of the match completely (61-run stand for the fifth wicket).
Towards the end, captain MS Dhoni too enhanced Rohit and Pandya’s good work in the middle with a wonderful over-boundary to remain unbeaten on eight from only two deliveries.
During Bangladesh’s chase, they had to overcome the factor called Nehra to make a match of it. Unfortunately, the home team struggled to find their feet against the Indian pace duo of Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah.
Later, Pandya and Ashwin too made their presence felt. Ultimately, Nehra took those three wickets and became the best bowler for his team.
But there was one thing common amongst the top four Indian bowlers — from Nehra, Bumrah, Pandya to Ashwin — all of them conceded 23 runs from their quote of four overs. It was quite a co-incidence.
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