Asia conquered, World T20 beckons - India lift maiden Asia Cup T20

ByArun S Kaimal, SportsCafe Editor

03/06/2016

Riding on the 94-run partnership between Dhawan and Kohli, India defeated Bangladesh by eight wickets to lift the maiden Asia T20 Cup at Mirpur on Sunday. Earlier Bangladesh had set a target of 121 on the back of a late charge from Mahmudullah after the match was reduced to 15 overs due to rain.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 120/5 in 15 overs (Mahmudullah 33*(13), Sabbir 32*(29), Ashwin 1/14) lost to India 122/2 in 13.5 overs (Dhawan 60(44), Kohli 41*(28), Taskin 1/14) by eight wickets

Chasing 121, India got off to a poor start losing Rohit Sharma for one in the second over. The Mumbai cricketer’s eyes lit up seeing a length ball outside the off-stump from Al-Amin Hossain, and Rohit went after it only to edge it to Soumya Sarkar at first slip. Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan then took their time to settle down and went after the bowling as soon as pacer Abu Hider came into the attack.

Dhawan edged the first ball into the vacant first slip position for a bounday to start the run fest, and Kohli took it forward with a flat shot over mid-off for a four. Dhawan completed the 14-run over with another edge through the first slip area to bring the required run rate below nine. Shakib was next in line to receive the wrath of Dhawan and Kohli as the duo smashed 15 runs to take India to 48/1 at the end of six overs.

Dhawan, who started the innings by edging few, found his groove as the match progressed and played a delightful shot off Mortaza in the eighth over for the first six of the innings. The left-hander got down on one knee and lofted the length ball over the square leg boundary to take his score to 41. Dhawan went past the fifty mark in the tenth over by smashing Shakib for two back-to-back boundaries, one of which came from a comical mix-up between two Bangladesh fielders.

When it seemed that India will stroll towards victory only needing run-a-ball, Taskin Ahmed struck to remove Dhawan for 60 off 44 balls. But Dhoni walked out and finished the match in just six balls by smashing twenty off it to guide India to an eight-wicket win. The Indian skipper continued his trademark finish by smashing a low full toss from Al-Amin over the midwicket boundary to claim the maiden Asia Cup T20 title.

Earlier, the rain almost ruined the party at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium with some heavy downpour, but a great effort from the ground staff made sure that both sides will get 15 overs to decide who will clinch the crown of Asian champions. India reverted back to their tried and tested XI for the all-important final with Ashwin, Jadeja and Nehra returning in place of Negi, Harbhajan and Bhuvneshwar. On the other hand, Bangladesh brought in spinning all-rounder Nasir Hossain and pacer Abu Hider into the team for the first time in the tournament.

Relive the highlights of Bangladesh Cricket : The Tigers's innings against Indian Cricket Team in the #AsiaCupT20Final
Posted by Asian Cricket Council on Sunday, 6 March 2016

Indian skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to field first to utilise the pitch that had been under covers for almost two hours. Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar started the innings cautiously by scoring just 14 off the first three overs, but it all changed in the fourth over with the openers smashing Ashish Nehra to the boundary three times in the over. However, the veteran made an impressive comeback in the last ball to remove Soumya Sarkar for 14. The left-hander tried to hit across the line seeing a length ball outside the off-stump but was only able to gift a catch to Hardik Pandya at mid-off.

The hosts went two down in the next over with Jasprit Bumrah trapping Tamim Iqbal plumb in front of the stumps. However, Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan ruined India’s good start to the match by smashing 11 and 12 runs off Jadeja and Pandya in the next two overs respectively to push the score past 50. Shakib took a special liking to the gentle medium pace of Pandya and whacked the Indian flat and hard towards deep square leg in the fourth ball of the seventh over, which went almost all the way.

As Bangladesh was getting comfortable with the effort of the batsmen, Dhoni brought on Ashwin for his third over and the off-spinner delivered with his first ball to remove Shakib for 21. The left-hander tried to upset the rhythm of Ashwin by moving outside the leg, but the off-spinner followed him and cramped him for room as Shakib top-edged to Bumrah at backward square leg for a straight forward catch.

( Are you a Dravid fan? Then you cannot miss this tribute to 'The Wall' by our guest writer)

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mortaza followed Shakib to the pavilion in quick succession as India looked to be in the driver's seat with Bangladesh at 78/5 in 12 overs. But Sabbir Rahman and Mahmudullah took the bull by the horns to effect a late charge in the next two overs.

The 13th over from Nehra saw Sabbir and Mahmudullah take one four each as the total saw a late spike of 14 runs. It only got worse for the Indian bowlers in the next over. Dhoni's decision to hand Pandya the second last over went horribly wrong as Mahmudullah smashed him for two sixes and a boundary to complete a mammoth 21-run over. The right-hander lofted the gentle full toss from Pandya towards the long-off boundary to start the run fest before moving to the right to smash a length ball over the midwicket boundary. Pandya continued his poor bowling by giving yet another length ball in the fourth delivery for Mahmudullah to take advantage. The right-hander cleared his front foot and swung the bat with full force to send the ball into the stands.

Bumrah, however, restored normalcy in the final over as he pegged the aggressive duo back by mixing up his bowling to give away only seven runs. Bangladesh ended up setting India a defendable target of 121 to chase on a tough track.

(Not just on the pitch, the Twitteratti also had a field day with both sets of fans going at each other)