By Kushan Sarkar
Mirpur, Mar 6 (PTI) India clinched the Asia Cup trophy for a
record sixth time after beating hosts Bangladesh by eight wickets,
riding on Shikhar Dhawan's scintillating 44- ball-60 in a rain-truncated
final, here tonight.
While Sri Lanka have won the continental title five times and
Pakistan twice, India’s title triumph makes them the ahead of their
continental neighbours.
Chasing a target of 121 in a match reduced to 15-overs-a -side,
Dhawan came good when it mattered the most as he hit nine fours and
a six adding 94 runs with Virat Kohli (41 not out) with India winning
with seven balls to spare.
In the last two overs, India required 19 runs. If the partisan
25,000 supporters harboured any hopes of a comeback, Mahendra Singh
Dhoni (20 not out in 6 balls) dashed it with a lethal six over deep
mid-wicket off Al-Amin and another terrific blow over deep extra
cover before finishing the match with another six.
There were no celebrations from the Indian team as the crowd
were left spellbound in disbelief.
Al Amin struck in the second over when a delivery moved a shade
as Rohit tried to slash it. Soumya Sarkar at first slip made no mistake.
As his skipper wanted from his openers in the earlier matches,
Dhawan initially tried to play himself in with India reaching 19
in the first four overs.
Things changed from the fifth over, bowled by left-arrm seamer
Abu Hider, playing his first match of the tournament. With Mushfiqur
Rahim standing up due to his lack of pace and short third-man stationed,
Dhawan played late to collect two boundaries while Kohli was lucky
when his lofted drive went beyond mid-off’s reach as he was standing
up. In all, 14 runs came off that over.
With Powerplay overs ending, Mashrafe Mortaza got Shakib Al
Hasan into action and the Dhawan-Kohli duo took 15 runs off that
over. Kohli pulled one while Dhawan played a late cut and an imperious
pull-shot as India were well on course in their pursuit of the total.
The stand-out shot for Dhawan was a slog-sweep off Mortaza that
was hit into the deep square leg stand.
After 10 overs, India were 71 for 1 and the match virtually
ended in Shakib’s next over when Dhawan hit a conventional and a
reverse sweep to dash Bangladesh’s hopes. Dhawan’s 50 came off 35 balls.
He was finally out caught at point by a diving Soumya Sarkar
off Taskin Ahmed.