Asia Cup T20, Match 1 Review: India thumps Bangladesh in the opening encounter

India produced a commanding performance to get off to a winning start in the Asia Cup T20. Batting first on a green pitch the visitors overcame an initial struggle to post 166/6 in 20 overs which proved enough in the end. With rain looming large over the capital city of Dhaka, the conditions remained challenging for both sides, however, play remained unaffected on a sultry day.

Winning the toss the home side skipper Mashrafe Mortaza had no hesitation in deciding to bowl first. Bangladesh went in with 4 seamers and the choice to bowl first seemed obvious given the conditions. Al-Amin Hossain cleaned up Shikhar Dhawan (2) to give his side a perfect start. The wicket of Virat Kohli (8) made it 22/2 in 4.3 overs as Mortaza got into the act. Suresh Raina made a run-a-ball 13 striking 2 fours, however, was out bowled dancing down the pitch to Mahmudullah.

Rohit Sharma wasn’t at his fluent best initially, however, kept his composure and looked determined to play a big knock. Yuvraj Singh made 15 off 16 before getting holed out at the deep mid-wicket boundary. Shakib Al Hasan took his wicket and made it 97/4 in 14.5 overs as India searched for a late push. In came Hardik Pandya and changed the course of the innings in the company of Sharma.

The two batsmen looked to take on whatever was thrown at them and hammered the ball to all parts of the ground. Mustafizur Rahman (0 for 40) was hammed for 21 in an over and India looked all set to cross the 150 mark. Sharma hit 7 fours and 3 sixes in his knock of 83 off 55 balls while Pandya made 31 off just 18 including 4 fours and a six. Skipper MS Dhoni hit the last ball out of the park as India posted a stiff target for the home side.

Mohammad Mithun (1) was sent to open the innings, however, lost his stumps trying to hit Ashish Nehra across the line in the 3rd over. Nehra was making the ball talk and thereby life difficult for the batsmen. Soumya Sarkar made 11 off 14, however, received a peach of a delivery from Jasprit Bumrah that bounced, took the edge and landed in Dhoni’s gloves.

Imrul Kayes (14) and Sabbir Rahman (44) tried to steady the innings however the asking rate always kept climbing. Kayes was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin while Shakib (3) soon followed him back to the dressing room after running himself out. Rahman’s knock, which included 2 fours and 2 sixes from 32 balls, was ended by Pandya off a short ball. Nehra took two more wickets to finish with 3/23. Bumrah, Pandya and Ashwin also gave 23 runs from their 4 overs and picked up 1 wicket each while Ravindra Jadeja gave 25 off his 4 overs and went wicketless. Bangladesh finished 45 runs short and will need a much-improved performance to pose a challenge in the remaining matches.

Brief Scores:

India – 166/6 in 20 overs (R Sharma 83; Al-Amin Hossain 3/37)

Bangladesh – 121/7 in 20 overs (S Rahman 44; A Nehra 3/23)

Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma (India)

How did Twitter react to India’s thumping win? – Twitter Reaction: India kick off their Asia Cup campaign with an easy win