Abhishek, spinners script victory against Bangladesh, India in Asia Cup final

Despite a mediocre batting show that limited India to 168 for six, Bangladesh's batting never had the wherewithal to chase down the target of 169 and were bowled out for 127 in 19.3 overs

Dubai: Abhishek Sharma’s scintillating 75 was beautifully complemented by Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy as India comfortably hammered Bangladesh by 41 runs to enter the Asia Cup final here on Wednesday.

Despite a mediocre batting show that limited India to 168 for six in their second Super 4 match, Bangladesh’s batting never had the wherewithal to chase down a gettable total and were bowled out for 127 in 19.3 overs.

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Thursday’s Super 4s game between Bangladesh and Pakistan is a ‘virtual semi-final’ and will decide India’s opponent in the summit clash. If Bangladesh’s batting show is any indicator, a third mouth-watering India versus Pakistan contest for the biggest continental prize is very much on the cards.

Opener Saif Hassan (69 off 51 balls) did his bit with some lusty hitting but most of the other batters failed to even reach double digits. Having said that, Saif was lucky to get as many as five reprieves.

Kuldeep Yadav’s (3/18 in 4 overs) craft was too much for them to decode while Varun Chakravarthy (2/29 in 4 overs) also got his share of wickets on a day when Axar Patel (1/37 in 4 overs) was blasted for four sixes.

Jasprit Bumrah (2/18 in 4 overs) also had a good day in office.

While some of the other Bangladeshi batters didn’t measure up, right-handed Saif muscled the likes of Axar and Chakravarthy for five huge sixes to keep his team interested but had no support at the other end.

Earlier, Abhishek Sharma blended power with copious amount of grace to smash a 37-ball-75 before indiscreet cricket from the other batters restricted India to a par 168 for six.

Abhishek, who is in the middle of a dream phase, hit six fours and five huge sixes in his sizzling effort.

He looked good for a century but a fantastic one handed stop and quick action throw from Rishad Hossan stationed at short third-man sent him back to the dugout.

At the other end, Indian batters played some poor strokes– whether it was Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma or skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who was caught brilliantly down the leg-side by stand-in captain and keeper Jaker Ali.

Team management’s inability to fit Sanju Samson was apparent as he couldn’t be fitted into the top seven.

Having scored 96 in first 10, India managed only 72 in next 10 overs with Axar Patel (10 off 15 balls), promoted ahead of Samson, looking out of place.

For Bangladesh, pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib (1/29 in 4 overs) looked quicker than what the speedometer displayed and Mustafizur Rahaman (1/33 in 4 overs) as usual used his change of pace deliveries to good effect.

But leg-spinner Rishad Hossain (2/27 in 3 overs) should be given a lot of credit for giving the ball air and getting the prized scalps of Gill and Shivam Dube, usually a fine player of wrist spinners, bringing Bangladesh back in the game after a poor Powerplay.

When India started batting, the first three overs of the Powerplay was uneventful but in the fourth over, Gill and Abhishek took 21 runs off left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed with a six each in their kitty.

Bangladesh’s most experienced T20 bowler Mustafizur was greeted by Abhishek with a six over long-on that landed near the Indian dugout and bounced into the middle tier.

The over ended with innings 50 completed and Abhishek’s third six — a slashed six over backward point.

India were cruising at 72 for no loss in the powerplay with last three overs costing 56 runs.

Once Gill (29 off 19 balls) was holed out off Rishad, Abhishek duly completed his second successive half-century in the tournament off 25 balls.

The ploy to send Dube (2) to attack their wrist spinner didn’t work out as Rishad got his second wicket with a leg-break that the burly Mumbai hitter wanted to slog against the turn.

Once Abhishek was run-out, India completely lost the momentum but the score was more than good enough for Bangladesh.