Nidahas Trophy 2018: Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar's stifling bowling is SK Turning Point of the match
Following a chastening defeat at the hands of hosts Sri Lanka in the opening game of the 2018 Nidahas Trophy, India bounced back in style by securing an emphatic victory against Bangladesh at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Upon winning the toss and electing to bowl first, India made a couple of early inroads. While Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Soumya Sarkar, Shardul Thakur removed the experienced Tamim Iqbal by employing a similar shorter length.
The tidy work accomplished by the seamers allowed the Indian spinners to operate efficiently and entangle the Bangladeshi batsmen in their clutches. Finding a new spin partner in Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal helped their team build sustained pressure on the opponent batsmen.
From eight overs combined, Chahal and Sundar conceded just 42 runs. The leg-spinner also picked the crucial wicket of the well set Liton Das. The spin duo's parsimonious spells ensured that the Indian batsmen had to chase a sub-par total of 140.
With the in-form Shikhar Dhawan smashing a 43-ball 55, India sauntered to the target in a comprehensive manner. The 'Men in Blue' registered a comfortable six-wicket triumph and maintained their unbeaten record over Bangladesh in T20Is.
Chahal and Sundar apply persistent pressure
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma preferred a seam-spin combination to utilise the new ball. After Unadkat began proceedings with a promising over, Sundar started his spell with a boundary off the first ball. However, the off-spinner curtailed Sarkar by delivering five dot balls in a row.
Despite hammering a six off Unadkat, Sarkar's over-ambitious play caused his own downfall. A lackluster shot against a shorter length only managed to end up in the safe hands of Chahal. Meanwhile, Sundar continued to bowl tightly at the other end. His second over came at the cost of just five runs.
Having relied on the Decision Review System to survive a leg-before decision, Tamim looked to impose himself on Shardul Thakur. But the right-arm seamer had the last laugh as he perished after scoring consecutive boundaries.
Coming into the attack towards the end of the Power Play, Chahal ran into an innovative Mushfiqur Rahim. Successive boundaries from the wicket-keeper batsman carried Bangladesh to 44/2 at the completion of the first six overs.
India were rather untidy on the field as dropped catches and needless extras threatened to undermine their own work. However, the Bangladeshi batsmen failed to capitalise. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and allowed captain Rohit to remain in control of the game.
With Chahal building pressure through a slew of dot balls, all-rounder Vijay Shankar reaped rewards from the other end. The medium pacer prised out the scalps of Rahim as well as Mahmudullah.
India maintain stranglehold over Bangladesh
Liton Das and Sabbir Rahman plodded along without showing any intent to raise the scoring-rate. Returning to the attack, Sundar helped India tighten the screws further. From his quota of four overs, the 18-year-old off-spinner gave away only 23 runs.
By tossing the ball up and generating alluring flight, Chahal procured the wicket of Das in the final over of his excellent spell. The leg-spinner finished with figures of 1/19 from his allotted four overs.
At the end of the 16th over, Bangladesh were stationed at 111/5. They could only manager 18 more runs from the last four overs as Unadkat and Thakur joined hands to consolidate India's position of advantage.
Although they lost a couple of wickets in the Power Play overs, the Indian batsmen aced the chase without breaking too much sweat. Aside from Dhawan's half-century, the likes of Suresh Raina and Manish Pandey also chipped in with handy contributions.