After Abhishek’s Explosive Innings, Bowlers Deliver a one-Sided Win: Dubey, Samson, and Kuldeep Drop Catches
Dubai: India (168/6 in 20 overs) defeated Bangladesh (127 all out in 19.3 overs) by 41 runs on Wednesday in the Asia Cup Super Four round, securing a spot in the final. A knockout match will be played on Thursday between Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the winner will face India in Sunday’s final. Defending champions Sri Lanka are now out of the tournament.
India leads the table with 4 points, while Pakistan and Bangladesh have 2 points each. Sri Lanka is yet to open its account. Each team plays 3 matches in this round, and the top two qualify for the final. India now only has one match remaining, against Sri Lanka.
Among Bangladeshi batsmen, opener Saif Hasan scored the most runs (69), followed by Parvez Hossain Emon with 21. No other batsman reached double digits.
In the closing moments of the match, a catch was headed toward Hardik during Varun’s over, but Shivam Dubey went for it and dropped it. However, a wicket fell on the very next ball. Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson also dropped a catch off Varun’s bowling, and Kuldeep Yadav couldn’t hold onto a catch in the final over either.
Despite that, Kuldeep Yadav was once again the most successful bowler, taking 3 wickets for 18 runs. Bumrah and Varun took 2 wickets each, while Axar Patel and Tilak Varma took 1 each.
Earlier, after being put in to bat, India scored 168 for 6, mainly thanks to Abhishek Sharma’s blistering 75 runs off 37 balls (5 sixes, 6 fours), the only half-century of the innings. He and Shubman Gill (29 off 19) had a 77-run opening partnership in 6.1 overs. There were no other big partnerships, and India could only set a modest target of 169 due to regular fall of wickets.
Towards the end, Hardik Pandya (38 off 29) and Axar Patel (10 off 15) put up a 39-run stand, but several dot balls in the final overs prevented India from reaching even 180.
Abhishek Sharma, who played a brilliant knock, was unfortunately run out after a slight miscommunication with Suryakumar Yadav. Initially, one replay angle suggested that Mustafizur’s hand had touched the stumps without the ball, but another angle confirmed to the third umpire that the ball was indeed in his hand during the run-out. At the time of his dismissal, India was at 112/3, and shortly after, Suryakumar also got out.
On Sunday against Pakistan, Abhishek had scored 74 off 39 balls with 5 sixes and 6 fours. Wednesday’s innings marked his fourth T20I half-century and second consecutive in the Asia Cup.
India was invited to bat first, and all eyes were on the in-form opening pair Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill, who lived up to the expectations with a powerful 77-run stand. With Litton Das out due to injury, wicketkeeper Zakir Ali captained the side. Bangladesh made four changes to their team, and during the toss, Zakir could only remember the names of two of those four players. India played with an unchanged winning XI.
Bangladesh vs Pakistan on Thursday
After facing India on Wednesday, Bangladesh will now take on Pakistan in another crucial match on Thursday (8:00 PM local time) in Dubai. With captain Litton Das injured, the team already looked fatigued against India. Now, with two high-stakes matches in just two days, the players might be struggling with exhaustion, which could affect their performance.