Asia Cup: IND vs BAN Review – Bangladesh walk away with a thrilling win

India and Bangladesh locked horns in match 6 of the Super Four stage of Asia Cup 2023 on Sunday, September 15 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo in a dead rubber as India had already qualified for the finals, while Bangladesh were knocked out.

Both teams expectedly made wholesale changes to their playing XI, with India resting Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Siraj. Tilak Varma was handed an ODI debut while Suryakumar Yadav played his first game in the campaign. India opted to bowl first. Bangladesh got off to a disastrous start as they lost four wickets for 59 runs in the 14th over.

However, Shakib Al Hasan and Towhid Hridoy formed an excellent partnership of 101 runs to resurrect the innings. However, the two batters departed in quick succession as Bangladesh slipped to 193/7. The Bangladesh lower order had to rise up to the occasion and they did exactly that. Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, and Tanzim Hasan Sakib played sensible knocks to take Bangladesh to a challenging score of 265/8.

In India’s innings, debutant Tanzim Hasan Sakib got his team off to a memorable start as he dismissed Rohit Sharma off the second ball. Tilak came in at No. 3 but failed to make much of an impact. He shouldered arms to a delivery from Tanzim and the ball nipped back to crash into his stumps.

India lost wickets at regular intervals but Shubman Gill stood firm and scored a fighting century. His knock kept India in the hunt as the more experienced batters failed to adjust themselves to the difficult nature of the track. When Shubman was dismissed by Mahedi Hasan, India still needed 57 runs to win. Axar Patel played a fine innings of 42 in 34 balls but was dismissed in the 49th over. In the end, Bangladesh held their nerves to win by six runs as they bowled out India in 49.5 overs.

Top performers

Best batter of the match

Shubman Gill:

The highest run-getter for India in 2023 was in sublime touch as he played some glorious shots during his 121-run knock of 133 balls. He hit eight fours and five sixes in his innings but also rotated strike to keep the scoreboard ticking. His knock received a lot of praise as the conditions weren’t ideal for stroke-play and he also lost his partners from the other end.

Best bowler of the match

Tanzim Hasan Sakib:

The talented youngster made his international debut and it is safe to say that he came off age. He picked up two wickets and gave away just 32 runs in the 7.5 overs he bowled. His wickets at the top proved to be very crucial as India found it very difficult to recover after the stutter at the top.

What’s next for the two teams?

Bangladesh would be heading home, where they will host New Zealand for a three-match ODI series while India will face Sri Lanka in the finals of the Asia Cup on Sunday.