Team India, finally, were back in their elements. After losing the first two games against Bangladesh, India restored pride in the third ODI match. They upstaged the hosts by 77 runs at Dhaka on Wednesday. It was a much welcomed win for the Indian fans.
For the first time in the series, the Indian batting clicked as a unit. Made to bat first, the visitors made 317/6, and, in reply, Bangladesh were bundled for 240 in 47 overs. Indian captain MS Dhoni was the stand-out performer of the match along with Suresh Raina.
He made a solid 69 that stabilized the Indian innings after India were 114 for two in the 20th over. From the time Dhoni came to the crease, he started to dominate the Bangladeshi attack.
As a No. 4 batsman in the team, Dhoni took his tally of runs to 1026 from 20 innings with an average of 68.40 and a strike-rate of 99.41. This was also the 59th ODI fifty of his career.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan his presence felt with a superb 75 off 73 deliveries. Even Ambati Rayudu displayed great sense of responsibility to compile a much needed 44. But the most worrying bit was Virat Kohli’s batting.
For the first time in his career, Kohli is without a fifty in last 10 ODI innings. In the end, Suresh Raina’s firing 38 off 21 balls enabled India to make a strong statement against a team, which has won its last 10 matches at home.
The best part about the Indian batting was the way the front-liners looked to build partnerships. If the Indian batting line-up finds form like this, it augurs well for team’s future.
As far as the fire-power in the bowling attack is concerned, India emerged as a better side than Bangladesh in this department of the game. Once again, Raina proved why Dhoni backs him to bowl during crunch situations.
He claimed three vital wickets. Pacer Dhawal Kulkarni and off-spinner R Ashwin too were effective. They took two wickets apiece to stop the all-conquering Bangladesh.
The new kid on the block — left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman — also took two wickets. He finished the series with 13 scalps from three matches at an average of 11.53.
For the first time in the series, most of the Bangladeshi batsmen got off to great starts, but couldn’t make them count. It was only Soumya Sarkar, who sizzled with some lusty hits at the start of his team’s chase.
Otherwise, Bangladesh didn’t look like the same team which had beaten India in back-to-back games. But Sarkar was slightly more consistent that his other teammates in his approach.
He made 40 off 34 balls. One-down batsman Litton Das too showed good application like Sabbir Rahman, but none could boost Bangladesh’s chance of winning the final match of the series.
