India A paid a heavy price for their underwhelming performance with bat and ball, succumbing to Bangladesh A in a Super Over in the semifinals of the Rising Stars Asia Cup on Friday.
Bangladesh A will face the winner of the second semifinal between Pakistan Shaheens and Sri Lanka A, which will be played later today, in the final on Sunday.
India A bowlers faltered at the crucial juncture as Bangladesh posted a solid 194 for six in 20 overs. The Jitesh Sharma-led side matched this score, forcing a Super Over.
However, India inexplicably decided to field Jitesh, Ashutosh Sharma, and Ramandeep Singh in the Super Over while keeping Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya in the dugout.
This decision backfired spectacularly as pacer Ripon Mondol dismissed
both Jitesh and Ashutosh for nought in the Super Over.
Despite losing Yasir Ali on the very first ball, Bangladesh managed to score the required one run through a wide bowled by leg-spinner Suyash Sharma, securing their spot in the final.
Earlier, India looked poised to chase down Bangladesh’s 194 as Suryavanshi (38 off 15 balls) and Arya (44 off 23 balls) powered India past 50 in just 3.1 overs.
Suryavanshi punished Mondol for 19 runs in the first over with two sixes and a four, followed by two consecutive sixes off off-spinner Meherob Hasan.
Arya, initially slow to start, soon joined the assault, hitting off-spinner Jishan Alam for two successive sixes.
The left-hander then creamed left-arm pacer Abu Hider for 4, 6, 4 as India reached 53 in 3.3 overs.
However, Suryavanshi’s innings ended when he fell to Abdul Saqlain, losing his bottom-hand grip while attempting to clear long-on, resulting in the ball landing in Alam’s hands.
Arya departed shortly after, hitting Alam in the deep off spinner Rakibul Hasan. But Jitesh (33 off 23 balls) and Nehal Wadhera (32 not out) added 52 runs for the fourth wicket, taking India to 150 for three in 14.5 overs.
Jitesh was then dismissed by a diving stumper, Akbar Ali, while trying to sneak the ball past the vacant deep third man off Hider’s bowling.
At 150 for four, India needed 45 runs in the last 30 balls, which seemed achievable given the presence of hard-hitters like Ramandeep, Ashutosh, and Wadhera.
However, none of them found the required momentum in the final five overs, reducing the equation to 16 runs off the last six balls and four off the final ball.
Bangladesh appeared to have the match in their grip, but a moment of misjudgement by stumper Ali allowed India to squeeze in the third run, tying the score at 194 for six.
Hasan bowled a perfect full-length delivery that Wadhera could only bunt to long-off, but the attempt to take a second run pressured the Bangladesh fielder and wicketkeeper, who failed to dislodge the stumps.
This miscalculation enabled India to add an improbable third run to level the scores.
Nevertheless, India had only themselves to blame for such a tight scenario as Bangladesh struggled at 130 for six despite opener Habibur Rahman’s well-paced 65 off 46 balls.
India’s decision to hand the 19th over to part-time spinner Naman Dhir proved costly, as Meherob (48 not out off 18 balls) scored 28 runs off the penultimate over, including four sixes and a four.
The final over by pacer Vysakh Vijayakumar was also expensive, with Meherob and Ali (17 not out off 9 balls) combining to score 20 runs.
The last two overs yielded 48 runs, allowing Bangladesh to reach a competitive total, which ultimately proved sufficient.
(With PTI Inputs)
