Nidahas Trophy, 2018 Final, India vs Bangladesh, Who said What: World reacts as India beat Bangladesh in last-ball finish
The Indian cricket team pulled off a nail-biting victory against Bangladesh in the final of the Nidahas Trophy, 2018. With 34 runs required off the last two overs, Dinesh Karthik, who had just come in to bat, took matters into his own hands as he scored 29 runs in just 8 balls to guide India to victory. With 5 runs required off the last ball, Karthik smashed a six over cover.
Chasing 167 for victory, India got off to a great start thanks to Rohit Sharma's heroics. He put on a 51 run partnership with KL Rahul for the third wicket. However, after Rahul's dismissal, Manish Pandey struggled with his timing and scored at a low strike rate. After Rohit's departure, Pandey and Vijay Shankar put India in a spot of bother as they struggled against the opposition bowlers.
After Pandey was sent back to the pavilion, Karthik produced one of the best innings of his life to take India over the line.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh overcame a poor start to put on 166 runs on the board, thanks to a 77 run knock by Sabbir Rahman. Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar bowled extremely well once again, with the former picking up three wickets. However, the pacers were quite expensive, with Shardul Thakur and Vijay Shankar, both conceding over 40 runs in their four overs.
Karthik was named the man of the match while 18-year-old Washington Sundar was named the man of the series.
Here is what the cricketers had to say after the match:
Shardul Thakur:
Yeah, I was (in next). We were holding hands and hoping DK to hit a big six. He has been in incredible form, in the nets too. I haven't tried the knuckle ball against him in the nets but he'll hit it too, given how he's batting.
Yuzvendra Chahal:
Today the wicket was a bit dry, so I just varied my pace. Always works in the powerplay. I'm used to bowling it, in the IPL and with the Indian outfit. I ate through all my nails.
Manish Pandey:
When I got out, I thought somebody has to get the runs. DK has done that in the past. He can get that quick 20 runs and we had the belief in him. And my god he did. They bowled well in the middle overs. Rohit was set and somebody had to go for the big hits. It was my job and I did that.
Dinesh Karthik:
Really happy to come out of this tournament. Wouldn't have done justice to this tournament had we not won with the bunch of young guys in the team. I have been practising these shots - having a strong base and then hitting from there. Happy to be where I'm and thanks to the support staff who have kept on supporting me for the last few months.
Shakib al Hasan:
t hurts but we can learn a lot from this too. All credit to DK. We can take a lot of positives from this game and someday we can come out victorious.
Rohit Sharma:
Want to thank the Sri Lankan crowd for coming out and supporting us. Great tournament for us. Young bunch of lads - lot of learning, we always knew that they had talent; they will get confidence from this tournament. These games are high-pressure games and it isn't easy. Quite easy to lead them, played with most of them. Lots of strategising and it was about executing them. Very happy for DK. I want one of the experienced campaigners to stay at the end - that's why I held DK back. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.