On September 28, Team India beat Bangladesh in the final of theAsia Cup 2018 final, played in Dubai. It was India’s seventh title victory in the continental tournament. At the toss, India’s stand-in skipper
Rohit Sharma emerged victorious and elected to field first. Bangladesh got a fine start from their openers Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Mirza. Both stitched a 120-run stand for the opening wicket off 125 balls. Kedar Jadhav delivered the first breakthrough to India as he got Miraz caught at the hands of Ambati Rayudu. Mehidy chipped in with his 32 off 59. Following Mirza’s dismissal, Bangladesh’s innings collapsed.
Except for Soumya Sarkar, all other batters lost their wickets on single-digit scores. Riding on the batting efforts from Litton Das (121 and 117) and Soumya Sarkar (33 off 45), the Bangla side reached a total of 222 in 48.3 overs. Kuldeep Yadav got three wickets in his 10 overs while Kedar Jadhav also bagged two wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah got one wicket apiece.
India completed the chase on the final ball of the game
Chasing the target, Indiagot a swift start but lost Shikhar Dhawan in the fifth over. The left-handed batter scored 15 off 14. Ambati Rayudu also went back to the pavilion after scoring only two. However, Rohit looked relentless and scored a quick 48 off 55. Dinesh Karthik chipped in with his 37 off 61.
Veteran MS Dhoni also got dismissed after contributing 36 runs off 67 balls. With India reeling at a score of 160/5 in 36.1 overs, Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja stood at the crease and played crucial innings. However, things got tricky for India, when Rubel Hossain got rid of Jadeja, who returned to the dugout after amassing 23 off 33.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar also made a crucial contribution with his bat to take India close to the target. The tailender scored 21 off 31. On the final delivery of the match, India required one to win and Jadhav took a single which was declared a bye by the umpire. Jadhav took India home with his 23* off 27. Bangladesh’s Litton Das became the Player of the Match (POTM) for his excellent batting display.
