India cruise against Bangladesh

By Madushka Balasuriya 

Yet another Shikhar Dhawan 50 helped India overcome some uncharacteristically shoddy work in the field to bounce back in the Nidahas Trophy, as they completed a comfortable six-wicket victory over Bangladesh at the R. Premadasa Stadium last evening.

Set a target of 140, Dhawan’s 43-ball 55 was more subdued than his knock against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, but as a result it allowed those around him to take on more of the scoring burden. Rohit Sharma hit three fours in a brief 17-run burst before being castled by Mustafizur Rahman, while Suresh Raina’s 27-ball 28 kept the scoreboard ticking over. 

Raina eventually fell, chipping one to square leg, however, the chase was always in hand. Even as Dhawan fell in the 17th over, Manish Pandey was on call to score a brisk 19-ball 27 to ensure the win.

That the chase was so simple will come as no surprise to Bangladesh, who, having been put in to bat, would have known they were at least 20-30 runs short. On a night when India’s fielding was off the mark, Bangladesh were more or less the architects of their own downfall as time and again boundaries were followed by lapses in concentration. 

Soumya Sarkar nonchalantly lifted a full ball on the pads by Jaydev Unadkat for the maximum, before a repeat attempt - this time the ball a touch shorter - only made it as far as the man at short fine leg.

Meanwhile, Tamim Iqbal, having had an lbw decision overturned upon referral, dispatched Shardul Thakur for two boundaries through the covers before top-edging an attempted pull, again to short fine leg.

Mushfiqur Rahim would have followed suit, sweeping and reverse sweeping Yuzvendra Chahal for consecutive boundaries before nearly playing on to the stumps off Vijay Shankar. Shankar though eventually got his man - caught behind upon referral - on his way to impressive figures of 2 for 32 in four overs.

And the right-arm quick could have had more if one of two Liton Das chances were taken - one an absolute sitter at mid-off spilled by Suresh Raina - while a host of other mishits fell either between or beyond the fielders. 

That India were not made to pay for these errors was due to the work of their spinners. Though they only accounted for the one wicket, Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar gave away just 42 runs in eight overs between them. The Bangladesh batsmen as a result played out 57 dot balls - nearly half their innings - and that was reflected in the scorecard. Das top-scored with a 30-ball 34, while Sabbir Rahman’s 30 off 26 too came at a little over a run a ball. In the end the scoring rate wasn’t enough, and Bangladesh will rue an opportunity lost, while India will be hoping for a massive improvement in the field going forward.