Thanks to Dinesh Karthik’s cameo, India pulls off an unlikely win over Bangladesh by 4 wickets in the finals of Nidahas Trophy 2018 played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Rohit Sharma invited Bangladesh into bat after the winning the toss. It was a good start by the Indian team who took 3 wickets in the powerplay overs.
Sabbir Rahman played a great knock of 77, cameo’s by Mehidy and Mahmdullah helped Bangladesh post 166. Chasing 167, Rohit Sharma played a captains knock. India was struggling but Dinesh Karthik cameo knock helped team India register a last ball thrilling win.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited Bangladesh to bat. Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das gave the team a steady start adding 27 runs. Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed both openers in successive balls. Soumya Sarkar could not contribute many runs as he was dismissed for 1 run. At the end of first 6 overs, Bangladesh scored 40 runs for 3 wickets.
After the power play overs, Sabbir Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim added 35 runs for the 4th wicket. Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Rahim for 9 runs. Sabbir Rahman looked in aggressive touch, playing with positive intent and reached his half-century off 37 balls. In the last 8 overs, Bangladesh scored 84 runs. Rahman was dismissed for a well-made 77 runs off 50 balls. Mehidy Hasan scored 19 valuable runs and helped Bangladesh post 166 for 8 in 20 overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar were the picks of bowlers for team India taking 4 wickets. Jaydev Unadkat took 2 wickets in the 19th over. Shardul Thakur and Vijay Shankar conceded 93 runs from 8 overs.
Chasing 167, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan got the team off to a flying start putting 32 runs in 2.4 overs. Suresh Raina could not open his account. After first six overs, India scored 56 runs. After the power play overs, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma added 51 runs for the third wicket. Captain Rohit Sharma reached his half-century off 35 balls. KL Rahul made 24 off 14 balls.
Manish Pandey struggled to time the ball and the run rate was climbing. Rohit Sharma was dismissed in the 14th over for 56 runs. With 69 runs required to win from 6.4 overs, Manish Pandey played positive strokes while Vijay Shankar who was sent ahead of Dinesh Karthik struggled. Pandey scored 28 off 27 balls and was dismissed in the 18th over.
Dinesh Karthik smashed 22 runs off Rubel Hossain over which put down the target to 12 runs in the final over. In the last over, Vijay Shankar scored a boundary of the 4th ball and was dismissed for next ball. With 5 runs required off the final ball, Dinesh Karthik hit a six to clinch a thrilling 4 wicket win. The wicketkeeper-batsman remained not out on 29 off 8 balls.
India 168 for 6 in 20 overs ( Rohit Sharma 56, Dinesh Karthik 28*, Rubel Hossain 2/35) beat
Bangladesh 166 for 8 in 20 overs ( Sabbir Rahman 77, Mahmudllah 21, Mehidy 19*, Yuzvendra Chahal 3/18, Undakat 2/33) by 4 wickets.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said: It was an amazing match to be involved in it. We wanted our best bowler to bowl the 18th and 19th over. Credit goes to Dinesh Karthik who came out and just started sixes from the first ball. We knew 166 would be tough to defend but tried our level best to win the match.
Captain Rohit Sharma said: Great tournament for us. We always knew we had the talent but how the young players performed under pressure will give confidence. Many young lads performance in this tournament will make them better players in future tournaments. Dinesh Karthik was special tonight and was pushed down the target with his finishing skills.
Man of the match Dinesh Karthik said: Really happy for the team. We played really well in the tournament and not to win the tournament would have been sad. I have been doing the good practice of hitting the balls right from ball one. The Indian team is a tough place to get a chance. With good support staff room, they always backed me and I am really happy.
Man of the series Washington Sundar: I am happy to get the man of series award at such young age. It’s a tough challenge to bowl in the powerplay overs but when you play for the country it’s a great honor. It was an amazing match and Dinesh Karthik played really well. It turned out to be a memorable series for me.
