Nidahas Trophy, 5th T20I: Clinical India beat Bangladesh to enter final

NEW DELHI: India defeated Bangladesh by 17 runs to book their berth in the summit clash of the Nidahas Trophy Tri-Series on Wednesday. Young spinner Washington Sundar produced his career-best figures of three for 22 to help India register a comfortable victory in the fifth Twenty20 International at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.


As it happened | Scorecard

India bowlers restricted Bangladesh to 159/6 in 20 overs, after they posted 176/3 with skipper Rohit Sharma scoring 89 off 61 balls.

Sundar had a great game as he struck thrice in the Powerplay overs to give India an early advantage. Sundar dismissed Liton Das in the second over for his first wicket, then he clean bowled Soumya Sarkar and Tamim Iqbal (27) in his next two overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal then removed Mahmudullah for 11 in the ninth over. Bangladesh were struggling at 61/4 in 8.4 overs when Sabbir Rahman joined Mushfiqur Rahim in the middle. The duo added 65 runs for the fifth wicket to keep Bangladesh in the hunt, before Shardul Thakur broke the partnership in the 17th over when the pacer clean bowled Rahman for 27. Rahman's 23-ball innings included a six and two fours.

Rahim kept Bangladesh's hopes alive scoring his fourth T20I fifty in 42 balls with the help of a six and five fours.

The equation was 33 runs in two overs for Bangladesh, when Thakur gave away just five runs in the penultimate over. Rahim hit two fours in the final over but 28 was too steep to climb for them. Rahim remained unbeaten on 72 off 55 balls.

Sent in to bat, Rohit and Suresh Raina (47) powered India to 176/3. India looked good for more than what they have scored but for Rubel Hossain's exceptional final over. India lost two wickets in the 20th over with Rohit falling off the last delivery (run out for 89), as Hossain (2/27) gave away just four runs after scalping Raina with the first ball. Rohit hammered five sixes and five fours in his knock.

India started cautiously with Rohit and Dhawan taking time to judge the pitch. India were 21/0 after 3.5 overs, when Shikhar Dhawan changed gears by smacking Mustafizur Rahman for a six straight down the ground. Rohit then slog-sweep Mehidy Hasan over deep mid-wicket for his own maximum as they took India to 49/0 after six Powerplay overs.

The duo though found it tough to maintain the high scoring rate and managed just 21 runs in the next 3.5 overs, before Dhawan became Hossain's first wicket. It was a brilliant yorker from Hossain which ended Dhawan's stay in the middle. Dhawan, who was dropped by Liton Das on 26, hit five fours and a six for his 35 off 27 balls and added 70 for the opening wicket in 9.5 overs.

Rohit then reached his 13th T20I fifty off 42 balls, with the help of two sixes and three fours. After scoring just five off first nine balls, Raina hit Hasan for a six and a four in consecutive balls and took India to 100-mark in 13.3 overs.

Raina did not look back after that as he scored boundaries at will and scored 47 off 30 balls with the help of two sixes and five boundaries. He added 102 runs for the second wicket with Rohit in 9.2 overs as they took India over 150 in 17.4 overs.

Brief Scores: India 176/3 (Rohit Sharma 89; Rubel Hossain 2/27) beat Bangladesh 159/6 (Mushfiqur Rahim 72*; Washinton Sundar 3/22) by 17 runs


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