Dhawan powers India to 6-wicket victory over Bangladesh

Colombo, March 8 - India produced an all-round show to thump Bangladesh by six wickets in their second match of the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tri-series here on Thursday. India restricted Bangladesh to 139/8 and then chased down the

They took wickets at regular intervals and also choked the rival batsmen by not letting them score freely. Bangladesh, on the other hand, tried to increase the scoring rate but at the end, it only resulted in their losing wickets.

Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal (15) and Soumya Sarkar (14) tried to take benefit of the powerplay but in the third over medium pacer Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Sarkar to make it 20/1.

After adding 15 more runs to the score with new batsmen Liton Das (34), Iqbal was also sent back to the pavilion by pacer Shardul Thakur.

With the scoreboard reading 35/2, wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim (18) arrived at the crease and played some beautiful shots, but his 14-ball knock was cut short by medium pacer Vijay Shankar in the ninth over.

Untroubled by the fall of wickets, Das continued to play his shots but lack of support from the other end started bothering the batsmen. Skipper Mahmudullah (1) was also dismissed cheaply.

Now with half of the side back in the dug-out, it all depended on Das, who was playing beautifully by rotating the strike with new batsmen Sabbir Rahman (30).

But just when things seemed good in the middle, Das was dismissed by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the 16th over. In his 30-ball inning, Das could only manage to slam three fours.

Now, with 107 runs on board, the lower-order got exposed and it did not support Rahman from the other end, which resulted in his wicket. In the 19th over, Rahman was sent back by Unadkat.

In the last over, Taskin Ahmed (8 not out) and Rubel Hossain (0) tried their best to make as many runs as they could but Hossain got run out while trying to steal a second run.

For India, Unadkat scalped three wickets while Tamil Nadu all-rounder Shankar, playing in only his second T20I match, took two.

During the chase, India batted around Dhawan, who stroked to his sixth fifty. He shared an important 68-run third-wicket stand with Suresh Raina (28) after the dismissals of Rohit Sharma (17) and Rishabh Pant (7).

Rohti cut left-arm medium pacer Mustafizur Rahman on to his stumps, while Pant was bowled by fellow medium pacer Rubel Hossain, to leave India at a spot of bother at 47/2.

But Dhawan and Raina didn't look to be under pressure and scored runs at ease by minimising the risk.

Later, Manish Pandey remained unbeaten at 27 off 19 deliveries to see India home.

Brief scores: Bangladesh: 139/8 (Liton Das 34, Sabbir Rahman 30; Jaydev Unadkat 3/38, Vijay Shankar 2/32) vs India: 140/4 in 18.4 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 55; Rubel Hossain 2/24).

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IANS