ODI Asia Cup: 5 Unforgettable Nail-Biting Matches

3.      India vs Bangladesh, 2018, India won by 3 wickets

This edition of the Asia Cup was held in Dubai with overall six countries participating. In the group stages, India were handed a scare from Hong Kong who were on track to chase India’s total down, but eventually, the Men in Blue won that game.  Bangladesh themselves also had a classic thriller with Afghanistan but Mustafizur Rahman bowled a superb last over and defended the runs required by Afghanistan. The final had been decided, as India and Bangladesh sealed the spots with Dubai being the venue.

Bangladesh batted first and made 222 before being dished out. From initially making a very good start, their batting collapsed, apart from Litton Das who scored an outstanding 121. His innings and Soumya Sarkar’s 33 were the only respectable notes of mention in Bangladesh’s batting as the Indian bowlers did a tremendous job. 222 wasn’t a big total and Bangladesh needed to bowl well for even a slight chance. India’s start to the innings was decent. There were many batters who got in, but none of them converted their knocks into a big innings. Rohit Sharma (48), Dinesh Karthik (37), and MS Dhoni (36) all added few runs but very good bowling in the middle overs by Bangladesh meant India could never score at a quick rate.

After MS Dhoni got out, India were 160/5 and a little later, an injury to Kedar Jadhav meant he had to go off the field and receive treatment. With continued discipline bowling by Bangladesh, the match status was 13 required off 18. Ravindra Jadeja got out which brought Kedar Jadhav back in. The injury had limited his stroke play and ability, but nothing impacted his determination. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got out in the 49^th over which left India seven down, needing nine off 11. Although there were dot balls, Kedar and Kuldeep Yadav remained calm and chipped away. India won the final off the last ball with a leg bye. A terrific game in a terrific tournament saw India eventually win and register their seventh Asia Cup title.