Unimoni Asia Cup 2018 Final Played At Dubai, UAE
India Vs Bangladesh
Brief Score Card
India 223/7 (Rohit Sharma 48, KD Karthik 37, MS Dhoni 36, R Jadeja 23, KM Jhadhav 23*, Rubel Hossain 2/26, Mustafizur Rahman 2/38) beat Bangladesh 222 All Out (Liton K Das 121, Soumya Sarkar 33, Mehidy Miraj 32) by 3 Wickets
Man of the Match: Liton K Das
Man of the Tournament: Shikhar Dhawan
Brave team tigers once again went so near to winning Asia Cup yet it remained out of sight. In a nail batting, nerve wrecking, energy sapping final going all the way to the wire India piped Bangladesh to the post. Bangladesh could score a below par 222 all out having been asked to bat. Against powerful Indian batting it was always considered a below par score. But brilliant Bangladesh bowling and masterly handling of depleted Bangladesh bowling resources by charismatic Mashrafe took the match down to the wire. The scores were tired with only last ball to spare. Limping KM Jhadhav struck the winning run. India defended their title and won the Asia cup Seven times.
Bangladesh lost its third Asia cup final over the past four event of ODI format. Defeated but not disgraced can be the only way one can summarize Bangladesh performance. Many predicted a one sided final. Former captain Shourav Ganguly thought 275 was the bare minimum Bangladesh must score to resist irresistible India. Bangladesh scored 222. Yet that score almost won it for Bangladesh. Bangladesh team has demonstrated that they remained undaunted. Two top players Tamim and Shakib were not available through injury. Mushfiq and Mashrafe are also carrying injuries.
Against India in full flow 222 is definitely not any score to defend. But never say die Bangladesh with a little bit of luck going their way could have won. Bravo tigers you made Bangladesh proud once again. There is no disgrace in such defeat. Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan in this tournament. They proved a fierce competitor to team India in the final. This team has all the element proving equal to any team of the world.
India won the toss and put Bangladesh to bat. Bangladesh had issues with opening partnership right since Tamim got injured in the first match. In the entire tournament Bangladesh struggled with top order batting. But on the day Mashrafe made a master stroke sending Mehidy Miraj opening the Innings with Liton. Bumrah, Kumar, Jadeja, Yadav and Jhadav were stunned as this pair blasted 120 runs in 20.5 overs.
Liton blazed and Mehidy provided able support. India was pushed back to the wall. But once Mehidy left smart Indian bowling and fielding squeezed Bangladesh. Liton off course went on scoring a brilliant century 121 to be exact. But tight spin bowling and nervy Bangladesh batting could produce only 102 for the remaining wickets. Apart from Liton only Miraj 32 and Soumya coming down the order scoring 33 could reach double figure. India used as many as four spinners Chahal, Jadeja, Yadav and Jadhav.
Bangladesh was strangled well .After a very impressive opening partnership many predicted Bangladesh would score at least 270-280. But their brilliant performing middle order crumbled like cookies. MS Dhoni stumped two key batsmen including Liton, Jadeja brilliantly run out one batsman with a spectacular direct throw. 222 at mid way was thought at least 40 runs less than competitive.
But Mashrafe and Bangladesh had different ideas. Once the prolific opening pair of Rohit and Shikhar were speared very accurate bowling of all Bangladesh bowlers let no free bees to Indian batsmen. Wickets continued to tumble and innings never got any momentum. None of the batsmen could reach even 50. Rohit was the highest scorer with 48. There were four other scores between 23 and 37 meaning that Bangladesh bowlers struck regular blows.
The match went to the wires. The scores were tied at 49.5 overs with injured Jhadav limping at that stage scoring the winning run on the last ball. An epic finish to a glorious Asia Cup tournament in the blistering desert heat. Billions across the cricket world especially in the cricket worshipping India and Bangladesh enjoyed every minute of the breath taking encounter. Hope ICC will once again regenerate cricket in Asia region through reconstituting ACC. Many Asian Associate countries need better facilities and infrastructure. Asian Countries richly deserve this.
Look how Afghanistan performed, how Hong Kong stressed India? Bangladesh must take pride upon its glorious performance. They had to struggle with injuries to key players, play so many matches with little interval. Yet they almost won the cup. Hope new coaching stuff has found an ideal nucleus for the team.
Bravo Mashrafe, bravo Bangladesh. Perhaps Mashrafe made a little aberration in bowling shuffling. One over of Mahmudullah spin was required for the 50 th over. Rubel and Mustafiz almost won it in the 48th and 49th bowling tight and taking a wicket each. But Mahmudullah also bowled exceptionally well. No regrets. Bangladesh entertained millions across the world.
DEEP IN OUR HEART WE DO BELIEVE WE SHALL OVERCOME SOME DAY.
BDST: 0947 HRS, SEPT 29, 2018
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