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Preview: Unbeaten in the tournament with four consecutive wins, India will be wary of slipping up at the last hurdle when they meet hosts Bangladesh in the final of the Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Sunday. The Indians have seemed virtually unstoppable in this tournament. The batsmen have done well on the green wicket while the bowlers, especially the pacers, have exploited the favourable conditions well. [caption id=“attachment_2659288” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
File picture of India cricketers. AP[/caption] With the youngsters proving their mettle and a few veterans making successful comebacks, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men will take away several positives from this tournament ahead of the World Twenty20 at home. Among the bowlers, veteran pacer Ashish Nehra has been in superb form. The 36-year-old has taken five wickets in three matches, but the statistics does not do full justice to his performance. Fellow opening pacer Jasprit Bumrah has also chipped in with effective performances. Young all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been the most successful among the Indian bowlers with seven wickets in four matches. The excellent performance by the bowlers has been backed up by the batsmen with Virat Kohli leading the pack. Opener Rohit Sharma has also been in good knick while Yuvraj Singh, 34, celebrated his comeback with a crucial knock against arch-rivals Pakistan and bettered it with a crucial inning against Sri Lanka. The only point of concern is continuing poor form of opener Shikhar Dhawan. Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were allowed to come off the bench in the last group match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and performed admirably. But they are unlikely to retain their spots, with Nehra, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja expected to return for the final. Placed at the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings, India are overwhelming favourites on paper against the 10th ranked hosts. The group stage match between the two teams saw India complete 45-run victory. But the final will be a different matter. Bangladesh have developed a habbit of punching above their weight and are expected to put up a spirited fight in front of a capacity home crowd. Apart from the sole loss against India, they have won all their group matches, defeating highly rated opponents Sri Lanka and Pakistan and minnows UAE. Pacers Taskin Ahmed and Al-Amin Hossain have been excellent with the new ball while Sabbir Rahman and Mahmudullah have put in vital contributions with the bat. Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, and Shakib Al Hasan have performed well on occasion, but have been somewhat inconsistent. The hosts will take inspiration from their 2-1 One-Day International (ODI) series victory over India last year. With the World T20 starting next week, emerging as kings in their own continent will give the title winners a major boost before they set out to take on the world. IANS
Asia Cup T20 final as it happened: India beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets to lift Asia Cup
Live scores and updates of Asia Cup final between India and Bangladesh.
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That’s it from us for the Asia Cup coverage! It’s been a long day, but when the match got underway, we got a game to remember.
Up next, the ICC World T20. Stay tuned for a lot of cool stuff that we have planned for you guys, even if we say so ourselves. Until then, take care!
MS Dhoni. post-match:
Credit to the top-order. Biggest gain is the team combination. We are on track for WorldT20.
Jasprit, the beauty is he can bowl yorkers. If you have the yorker, you can mix it up. Fantastic with new and old ball.
Hardik Pandya is a complete package.
http://www.firstpost.comThat’s it! India win by 8 wickets. They win the Asia Cup for the 6th time!
Dhoni has come out and just taken away the game from Bangladesh. He just plunders the first ball over deep mid-wicket for a humongous six and then cracks one over extra cover and then clobbers one over mid-wicket again to hit the winning runs. Kohli remains not out on 41 off 28. Dhoni unbeaten on 20 off 6. Bangladesh had their moments but India were too strong for them.
After 13 overs, India 102/2 (Kohli 38, Dhoni 3)
A very good over from Taskin. 5 runs and a wicket off it. 19 needed off 12.
OUT! Brilliant catch from Sarkar. S Dhawan c Soumya Sarkar b Taskin Ahmed 60 (44b 9×4 1×6)
The pressure was building. After just two runs off first three balls, Taskin bowls it full, Dhawan slices it to backward point where Sarkar dives full length to his right an pouches a brilliant catch. Bangladesh need one more wicket quickly now.
Surprise, surprise….Ms Dhoni strides out to the middle.
After 12 overs, India 97/1 (Dhawan 59, Kohli 37)
A brilliant over for India. Kohli in cruise control and he hammers a couple of fours over mid-wicket. Dhawan then paddles one wide of short fine leg for another four. A single more makes it 15 runs off the over. 24 needed off 18 now. India in control. Bangladesh need a wicket desperately now.
After 11 overs, India 82/1 (Dhawan 53, Kohli 28)
FIFTY for Dhawan!
He brings it up in style with a couple of fours. A slog sweep to deep square leg and then a reverse sweep wide of short third man. 8 fours and a six in his innings so far. 11 runs off the Shakib over. 39 needed off 24 now.
After 9 overs, India 71/1 (Dhawan 43, Kohli 27)
A very good over from Nasir. He’s bowling them flat and quick. The batsmen found it difficult to get going. There is a huge appeal for an LBW as Kohli misses his reverse lap but the umpire says no. Just 3 runs off it. 50 needed off 30.
After 8 overs, India 68/1 (Dhawan 41, Kohli 26)
Dhawan is playing a gem here. After two singles from first two balls, Dhawan moves across and swipes it over deep backward square leg for a six. Mortaza ends the over well conceding just one off the last three balls. 9 runs off the over.
After 8 overs, India 59/1 (Dhawan 33, Kohli 25)
A decent over from Nasir. Just four runs off it. There was an LBW appeal turned down against Dhawan but it was drifting down leg. 4 runs off the over.
After 7 overs, India 55/1 (Dhawan 31, Kohli 23)
The 50 comes up for India and the fifty stand too. It’s all too easy for these two. Kohli hits a delightful four in the over as he flicks one behind square leg for a four. 7 runs off the over.
After 6 overs, India 48/1 (Dhawan 30, Kohli 17)
Another good over for India. Poor bowling from Shakib. A couple of short balls are put away to the fence one each by Dhawan and Kohli respectively. In between, Dhawan cut one very late wide of short third man for a boundary. 15 runs off the over. 29 runs off the last two over. Bangladesh need a wicket now.
After 5 overs, India 33/1 (Dhawan 20, Kohli 12)
This is the over that releases the pressure on India. Dhawan gets a couple of outside edges for streaky fours. In between, Kohli thumped one over mid off for a boundary. 14 runs off the over. Hider was a tad unlucky in that over as two fours were off outside edges.