Press Trust of India
Mirpur, March 6: India clinched the Asia Cup trophy for a record sixth time after beating hosts Bangladesh by eight wickets, riding on Shikhar Dhawan’s (60, 44b, 9×4, 1×6) scintillating knock in a rain-truncated final, here Sunday.
While Sri Lanka have won the continental title five times and Pakistan twice, India’s title triumph takes them ahead of their continental neighbours.
Chasing a target of 121 in a match reduced to 15-overs-a -side, Dhawan came good when it mattered the most. With Virat Kohli (41 n o, 28b, 5×4) he put on 94 runs for the second wicket guiding India to victory with seven balls to spare.
In the last two overs, India required 19 runs. If the partisan 25,000 supporters harboured any hopes of a comeback, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (20 n o, 6b, 1×4, 2×6) dashed it with a lethal six over deep mid-wicket off Al-Amin and another terrific blow over deep extra-cover before finishing the match with another six.
There were no celebrations from the Indian team as the crowd was left spellbound in disbelief.
The stand-out shot for Dhawan was a slog-sweep off Bagladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza that was hit into the deep square leg stand. He was finally out caught at point by a diving Soumya Sarkar off Taskin Ahmed (1/14).
Earlier, Indian bowlers lost their way in the final overs after an impressive start as Bangladesh rode on Mahmudullah Riyadh’s (33 n o, 13b, 3×4, 2×6) knock to post a competitive 120 for five after being put into bat.
The match was reduced to 15-over-per side after a spell of thundershowers resulted in a two-hour delay to the start of the proceedings.
The turning point was the 13th over by Nehra (1/33) and more importantly the 14th over bowled by Hardik Pandya (1/35). Fourteen came off Nehra’s over while Pandya was taken for 21 in the penultimate over with Mahmudullah hitting him for a boundary and two huge sixes.
Jasprit Bumrah (1/13) was exceptional at the death while Ravichandran Ashwin (1/14) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/25) also bowled accurately.
