 "IND vs BAN 2nd T20: Nitish Reddy exhibits full all-round potential, hosts showcase bowling riches and other takeaways")
India sealed another home assignment on Wednesday with a commanding 86-run victory in the second T20I against Bangladesh in New Delhi. India had swept the two-Test series against Bangladesh earlier with one-sided victories in Chennai and Kanpur, and had seized the lead in the three-match T20I series with a comfortable seven-wicket victory in Gwalior on Sunday.
Three days later in the national capital, India managed to post a massive 221/9 on the board despite being reduced to 41/3 at one stage inside the powerplay, the turnaround coming thanks to fiery half-centuries from Nitish Reddy and Rinku Singh.
Stats | India win by a record margin in Delhi; Nitish Reddy fourth-youngest Indian to score fifty
The Suryakumar Yadav-led Men in Blue were just as clinical with the ball as they restricted the Najmul Hossain Shanto-led visitors to a modest 135/9, virtually killing off the contest around the halfway stage of the chase.
Here are some of the key takeaways from Wednesday’s clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium:
Nitish showcases all-round potential
If Mayank Yadav’s fiery debut and Varun Chakravarthy’s grand comeback were the key takeaways from the series-opener in Gwalior, the second T20I in Delhi was all about Andhra and Sunrisers Hyderabad Nitish Kumar Reddy showcasing his full potential as a seam-bowling all-rounder.
Reddy and Rinku found themselves in a tricky situation in the middle overs after captain Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed shortly before the end of the powerplay, leaving India three down with less than 50 on the board.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsReddy and Rinku initially took the cautious approach with the former batting on 13 off as many balls. However, a front-foot no-ball by Mahmudullah and a subsequent six off a free-hit by Reddy signalled a shift in momentum and would prove to be a turning point in the match.
Read | Nitish Reddy credits Surya, Gambhir for giving him 'licence to play fearless cricket'
After going at run-a-ball in his first 13 deliveries, Reddy would smash 61 off the next 20 balls before getting deceived by a cutter from Mustafizur Rahman.
As if his whirlwind innings wasn’t enough, he would later collect 2 for 23 in four overs to walk away with the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
Rinku finally returns to form
It wasn’t just Reddy who shone at the batting-friendly Delhi wicket on Wednesday though. Rinku had been going through a lean patch recently, getting dismissed on 1 twice in three games in Sri Lanka. On Wednesday, the situation was tailor-made for Rinku to pull off another of his rescue acts — the most memorable of which had come in a Kolkata Knight Riders jersey last year.
While he opened his account with a boundary off Mustafizur in his second delivery, Rinku decided to bat according to the situation and play cautiously for a bit after the end of the fielding restrictions. The Uttar Pradesh batter was also going at run-a-ball when he struck leg-spinner Rishad Hossain for his first maximum, executing a slog-sweep perfectly in the eighth over to move to double figures.
God's plan, Rinku's execution! 😇💙#IDFCFirstBankT20Trophy #INDvBAN #RinkuSingh #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/HMuSQJA0AB
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) October 9, 2024
Rinku was happy to play second fiddle to Reddy for a few overs after the latter broke the shackles with a six off Mahmudullah’s bowling, hitting the occasional four or six to ensure he did not build too much pressure at his end.
Shortly after Reddy’s departure, Rinku would bring up his third T20I half-century with two fours and a six in consecutive deliveries from express pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib, reaching the milestone in 26 balls — one less than what it took for his partner in the 108-run fourth-wicket stand.
Men in Blue showcase bowling depth
While Reddy and Rinku took centre-stage with their whirlwind knocks, the match also witnessed Suryakumar Yadav make full use of the bowling resources made available to him.
SKY not only shuffled his bowlers around quite frequently, but he was also smart with his bowling changes that resulted in the Tigers losing wickets in a heap after starting their chase on a promising note. As many as seven bowlers were introduced by Surya on Wednesday evening and remarkably, each of them ended up collecting at least one wicket.
Riyan Parag joins the wicket taking party 🎉
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 9, 2024
The wicket! The catch! The celebration 👌👌
Live - https://t.co/Otw9CpO67y… #INDvBAN@IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/5AMiEOK2tj
While Reddy chipped in with tidy figures of 2/23, Chakravarthy was superb as usual as he signed off with figures of 2/19, carrying on from where he left off in Gwalior where he made his international comeback after three years.
Arshdeep Singh drew first blood by dismissing opener Parvez Hossain Emon, giving him the death stare as a result of being smashed for 14 runs in the first over while fellow pacer Mayank Yadav as well as the spin-bowling trio of Washington Sundar, Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag collected a wicket each.
Taskin stands out from the rest of the Bangla attack
There weren’t too many positives for the Bangladeshi team after getting outplayed yet again in their ongoing tour of India. Mahmudullah did score a 39-ball 41 during the chase in what was his penultimate T20I appearance, but that knock has been criticised on social media as a “slow” knock that ultimately had little value.
However, credit has to be given to the seamers for making good use of their pace variations to strike early in the Indian innings after skipper Shanto opted to bat.
However, while Mustafizur and Tanzim leaked runs later in the innings after their early strikes inside the powerplay, finishing with 36 and 50 runs respectively for two wickets each, Taskin was in a different league altogether.
The 29-year-old pacer signed off with figures of 2/16 from four overs, an outstanding performance in a game in which the opposition ended up posting 221. It was also the best performance by a bowler from either team, made all the more impressive by the fact that he conceded just one boundary in the entire evening.
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