India defeat Bangladesh to retain Asia Cup

After defeating Pakistan in the last match of the ‘Super Four’ of Asia Cup, Bangladesh set up date with India in the finals. India having won the toss invited Bangladesh to come out and bat first. The openers started off well but things took a sharp turn following Hasan’s dismissal. From 120/1, Bangladesh quickly lost 4 wickets and found themselves 5 wickets down for 151. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They were bowled out eventually in the 49^th over for a total of 222 as Bhuvneshwar Kumar knocked off Rubel Hossain’s stumps. Liton Das of Bangladesh won the hearts of the people with a brilliant knock of 121 off 117 balls. Kuldeep Yadav impressed with the ball, picking up 3 wickets in his 10 overs giving away 45 runs, including the all-important wicket of Liton Das.



Chasing 223, Rohit Sharma looked to be in fine form as India started things off in style. Bangladesh however got their breakthrough in the 5^th over, sending Asia Cup highest scorer, Shikhar Dhawan, back to the pavilion. India lost the wicket of Ambati Rayudu soon after and problems began when skipper Sharma fell for 48. At 83-3, Dinesh Karthik and Dhoni consolidated the Indian innings with a much needed partnership. However DK fell after scoring 37 and Dhoni followed soon after to make things worse. Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar all chipped in with handy innings’ as India limped to the target in the last ball of the game.



Though not the most convincing of victories, India managed to defend their Asia Cup title and that too without their star performer and talisman, Virat Kohli.