MEN IN BLUE TAME BANGLA TIGERS
Dhawan, Unadkat help India beat Bangladesh by 6 wkts
Colombo, March 8: India bounced back from their loss to Sri Lanka with a six- wicket victory over Bangladesh in their second round robin league match of the Nidahas T20 Tri- Nation tournament here on Thursday.
Set a victory target of 140 runs, India’s batting charge was led by opener Shikhar Dhawan ( 55, 43b, 5x4, 2x6), who continued his good form after a stroke- filled 90 against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
India reached their target in 18.4 overs.
Veteran Suresh Raina ( 28, 27b, 1x4, 1x6) and Manish Pandey ( 27, 19b, 3x4) also contributed to the victory, after left- arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat ( 3/ 38) set up the platform, restricting Bangladesh to 139/ 8.
India’s young bowling unit got its bearings back with a disciplined effort to restrict Bangladesh to a modest total.
After a nightmarish effort against hosts Sri Lanka in the opener, the inexperienced line- up gave a much better account of themselves, using the conditions well, much to the delight of their skipper Rohit Sharma.
The testimony to a better performance was as many as 55 dot balls ( 9.1 overs) being bowled by the ‘ Men In Blue’. On a slow Premadasa track, all- rounder Vijay Shankar’s ( 2/ 32 in 4 overs) wicket- to- wicket stuff proved to be handy even though he had at least three catches dropped off his bowling.
Unadkat had most number of wickets but he was inconsistent throughout his four- over spell with a mixture of good deliveries followed by half trackers. Rohit once again started with off- spinner M. S. Washington Sundar ( 0/ 23 in 4 overs) and the dangerous Tamim Iqbal ( 15, 16 balls) found it difficult to get going in the Powerplay overs.