India beat Bangladesh by four wickets to win the Nidahas Trophy in Colombo on Sunday. Dinesh Karthik came up with his one of his best knock ever as he blasted 29 off only 8 balls.
India needed 5 runs off the last ball and Karthik smashed a flat-bat six over extra cover to clinch the match and the series, keeping the T20I record against Bangladesh intact.
Manish Pandey’s wicket fell and Karthik came out to bat and singlehandedly changed the flow of the game, hitting two sixes and two boundaries in the 19th over to add a critical 22 runs to the Indian scorecard.
After Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina departed cheaply, Rohit Sharma came up with his 14th T20I fifty to keep India in the chase.
Bangladesh posted a competitive 166/8 with Sabbir Rahman leading the way with 77 off 50 balls, after being put to bat by the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, in the final of the Nidahas Trophy at the R.Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.
Bangladesh lost three early wickets, but Sabbir and Rahim manufactured a recovery as Mahmudullah, Shakib and Mehidy Hasan all played a part to push the score along.
Bangladesh seems to be going for the kill and had not entered the Tournament to make up numbers, which India was well aware off, considering their ongoing rise in the shortest format of the game. Bangladesh meant business and their performance showed that too.
There is no official rivalry of India with Bangladesh, as is with India and Pakistan and Australia and there is not much history attached to Indo-Bangla matches. But Bangladeshi cricket fanatics consider India to be their biggest on-field rivals, especially since their 2015 World Cup quarterfinal defeat in Melbourne, which was stirred with controversy, as they felt that some umpiring decisions went against them.
Also in 2015, India lost an ODI series in Bangladesh and there were some insults hurled at some of the Indian players, with objectionable posters being displayed in the stands.
Nonetheless, the past is history and on Sunday India showed the Island nation what it was made off and made it clear that India is the world’s best team and would come out a winner, even under pressure.
