Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja were the top performers for India as they defeated Bangladesh in their first Super Four encounter in Asia Cup 2018 on Friday. While Jadeja wreaked havoc on the batsmen with figures of 4/29, Rohit Sharma made short work of the run chase with a brilliant 104-ball 83.
Jadeja, who replaced the injured Hardik Pandya, broke the backbone of Bangladesh batting as they were bundled out for 173. He claimed the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan in his very first over and then followed it by dismissing Mohammad Mithun and Mushfiqur Rahim.
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The all-rounder was able to bother the Bangladesh batsmen with his variations and in his final over, he took the wicket of Mosaddek Hossain to claim a four wicket haul – his first since 2014 when he achieved the feat against England in Cardiff.
Jadeja was also well assisted by the India pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as both of them claimed three wickets each. They got rid of the openers Liton Das (7) and Nazmul Hossain Shanto (7) by the sixth over and then came back to finish the job at the end of the innings.
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Bangladesh were struggling at 101/7 and it was thanks to a late cameo from Mehidy Hasan (42 off 50 balls) and skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (26 off 32 balls) that they were able to take their total to 173 in 49.1 overs.
In reply, India were off to great start with Shikhar Dhawan scoring freely against the Bangladesh bowling attack. Rohit (83 off 104 balls) and Dhawan (40 off 47 balls) shared a 61-run partnership for the opening wicket and even after Dhawan’s dismissal, Rohit continued to lead the side by example. He paced his perfectly as India looked in complete control and thanks to a six off Shakib, he reached his 36th ODI fifty.
MS Dhoni, who came out at No. 4, played second fiddle to Rohit but did not miss the opportunity to hit Mortaza for consecutive boundaries. He shared a 50-run partnership with the skipper and although he was dismissed for 33, India had no problems in winning the match comfortably by seven wickets.
First Published: Sep 22, 2018 00:22 IST
Source: HindustanTimes