Finance
Hardik Pandya’s swashbuckling 16-ball 39 not out, combined with Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy’s dominating displays with the ball, led India to a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the first T20I at Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
India has grabbed a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after winning the match with 49 balls to spare, making it their fastest chase of more than 100 runs in the format.
Chasing a low-scoring 128, Pandya hammered two successive fours before securing the victory with a six off Taskin Ahmed on the penultimate delivery of the 12th over. The all-rounder’s innings was explosive, with five fours and two sixes.
Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma got things began in style, with the former scoring two boundaries against Shoriful Islam in the first over. Abhishek struck a six and two fours off Taskin in the following over before being caught for 16.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav joined Samson in the middle, and the two continued to score quickly on the powerplay. Both batters used attacking strokes to maintain the run total above ten. Suryakumar scored 29 runs off 14 balls, including three sixes and two fours.
Debutant Nitish Reddy joined Samson in the center. The framework of the chase was already laid in the powerplay, when India scored 71/2 in the first six overs. Samson failed to carry forward the momentum and was dismissed by Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the eighth over for a well-made 29 off 19.
Pandya and Reddy ensured that India did not have any additional setbacks in the pursuit. The senior hitter seized the initiative and shown his hard-hitting prowess to lead India home. Reddy stayed undefeated at 16 while Pandya scored an unbeaten 39*.
Earlier, Arshdeep Singh (3-14) and Varun Chakravarthy (3-31) took three wickets each to dismiss Bangladesh for 127.
Bangladesh openers Parvez Hossain Emon and Litton Das struggled to get their team off to a good start. Arshdeep struck early on the fifth ball of the encounter to dismiss Litton (4), using the top edge of his bat.
In the following over, the left-arm bowler dismissed Emon (8), complicating Bangladesh’s batting even further.
Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towid Hridoy tried to rebuild and kept the scoreboard ticking in the powerplay. Shanto made the most of the first bowling change by Indian captain Suryakymar Yadav in the fifth over. Bangladesh captain smashed back-to-back fours off Varun Chakravarthy before hitting six on the final ball to accumulate 15 runs from the over.
Debutant Mayank Yadav came into the attack on the final over of the field restriction and bowled a maiden while clocking the maximum speed of 147.3 kmph. He joined the likes of Ajit Agarkar and Arshdeep to bowl a maiden in his first T20I over for India.
Bangladesh were 39/2 after 6 overs. However, Chakravarthy bounced back in his next over to remove Hridoy (12) as Hardik Pandya took a catch at long-on. Mahmudullah came in to bat at No. 5 but his stay at the crease was cut short by Mayank in his second over to get his first international wicket. Mahmudullah departed after scoring just one run, leaving Bangladesh at 43/4.
Shanto and Jaker Ali had a 14-run partnership before Chakravarthy struck again, sending half of the team home.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz joined his captain in the middle and shared an 18-run stand before spinner Washington Sundar caught Shanto off his own bowling, leaving Bangladesh six wickets down.
Tailenders Rishad Hossain (11) and Taskin Ahmed (12) provided some resistance and contributed key runs to the scoreboard, but Mehidy held tight on the other end.
Pandya broke Shoriful Islam’s (1) off stump before Arshdeep clean bowled Mustafizur Rehman (1) on the match’s penultimate delivery. Mehidy finished unbeaten on 35 runs from 32 balls, including three fours, as Bangladesh were bowled out for 127 in 19.5 overs.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 127/10 in 19.5 overs (Mehidy Hasan Miraz 35 not out, Najmul Hossain Shanto 27; Arshdeep Singh 3-14, Varun Chakravarthy 3-31) lost to India 132/3 in 11.5 overs (Hardik Pandya 39 not out, Suryakumar Yadav 29; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 1-7) by seven wickets.
Source:IANS
