Left-arm spinner's 4-29 and skipper Rohit Sharma's second consecutive half century help India crush Mortaza & Co by seven wkts
Ravindra Jadeja celebrates the dismissal of Bangladesh's Mohammad Mithun during their Asia Cup tie in Dubai yesterday. Pic: AP/PTI
India beat Bangladesh by seven wickets here last night. That was not long after a player who arrived in Dubai, overshadowed wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who were expected to strike it big.
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Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja made the most of an unexpected call-up after three players suffered injuries. The Saurashtra spinner straightaway hogged the limelight by claiming 4-29 to help India restrict Bangladesh to a below-par 173 in the first match of the Super Fours in the Asia Cup at the Dubai International stadium here yesterday.
That left the batsmen with a rather easy task of attaining the target at well under four an over. India chased down the 174-run target in 36.2 overs, thanks to skipper Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 83 and MS Dhoni's 33 off 37 balls.
With Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma again giving India a solid start of 61 runs, the outcome of the match was hardly in doubt. Dhawan fell for 40, but the Indian skipper continued his superb touch and got to his second successive half century with a fine six off Shakib Al Hasan. That also brought up India's 100 in the 24th over.
After Ambati Rayudu (13) failed to come good, MS Dhoni was sent up the order to enable him to get some decent time in the middle. With the batting looking solid, India look set to pocket full points and take a big step towards making it to the final.
India owe their victory to Jadeja. Playing an ODI after over a year, he sent back Bangladesh's top batsmen Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammed Mithun and Mushfiqur Rahim in quick succession.
These dismissals came after Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah had got rid of the openers. With half the Bangladesh batting line-up back in the pavilion for a mere 65 on the board, it was an uphill task for the remaining batters to post a fighting total. There is no doubt that Bangladesh team were affected by back-to-back matches, having played the inconsequential last league game in Abu Dhabi on Thursday night.
Also Read - Asia Cup 2018: India Need To Guard Against Complacency Against Bangladesh
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