India vs Bangladesh, 2nd T20I: India beat Bangladesh by six wickets

Colombo: In-form Shikhar Dhawan scored his second fifty in as many games to help India register a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their second Twenty20 Internationals of the Nidahas Trophy Tri-Series at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on March 8.
India chased down the modest 140-run target in 18.4 overs, with Dhawan scoring 55 off 43 balls that included five fours and two sixes. Rubel Hossain (2/24) was the pick of Bangladesh bowlers, while Taskin Ahmed (1/28) and Mustafizur Rahman (1/31) chipped in with a wicket apiece.
Earlier, Jaydev Unadkat (3/38) and Vijay Shankar (2/32) shared five wickets to help India restrict Bangladesh to 139/8.
After a good start, 27/0 in three overs, Mustafizur Rahman got the better of India skipper Rohit Sharma in the fourth over to give Bangladesh a big breakthrough. Rohit’s 13-ball 17 included three boundaries. India lost young Rishabh Pant soon as the left-hander chopped a Rubel Hossain delivery on to his wickets in the sixth over.
But Dhawan, who scored 90 against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, and Raina made sure that the momentum doesn’t shift as they kept the scoring rate high. They also added 68 runs for the third wicket, which turned out to be a match-winning one. Dhawan reached his sixth T20I fifty in just 35 balls.
India were cruising in their chase, at 108/2 in 14 overs, when Raina fell to Hossain in the 15th. Raina’s innings of 28 (off 27 balls) included a six and a four.
Taskin Ahmed then got the better of Dhawan in the 17th over but it was too little too late by then as India needed just 17 more in 3.2 overs.
Manish Pandey (27 not out off 19 balls), along with Dinesh Karthik (2 not out), then took India home with eight balls to spare.
Sent in to bat, Bangladesh lost wickets at regular intervals and failed to build any substantial partnerships in the middle. Liton Das (34) and Sabbir Rahman (30) were the top scorers for Bangladesh.
After reaching 10/0 in two overs, Soumya Sarkar (14) flicked Unadkat’s delivery over square leg for a six. But while trying a similar shot two balls later, Sarkar hit it straight to Yuzvendra Chahal at short fine leg as Unadkat gave India their first breakthrough.
Soon after winning a review against an LBW decision, Tamim Iqbal hit Shardul Thakur for back-to-back fours in the next two balls. But in the end Thakur had the last laugh. In the last ball of the over, Tamim (15) top edged a slow bouncer to give Unadkat an easy catch at short fine leg.
Playing his second T20I, Shankar dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim (18) for his first international wicket in the ninth over, before adding the wicket of captain Mahmudullah in the 11th.
Das, who was dropped on 7 by Raina in the seventh over, then stabilised the Bangladesh innings by adding 35 runs for the fifth wicket with Rahman. Das hit three fours for his 30-ball 34, before becoming Chahal’s victim in the 16th over. Unadkat then sent Mehidy Hasan back in the next over for his second wicket.
Rahman scored 30 off 26 balls, which included a six and three fours, before becoming third wicket of Unadkat in the penultimate over. Bangladesh lost four wickets in final five overs and managed just 32 runs during the period.
Brief Scores: India 140/4 (Shikhar Dhawan 55; Rubel Hossain 2/24 ) beat Bangladesh 139/8 (Liton Das 34; Jaydev Unadkat 3/38) by six wickets.

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