The third and deciding T20I of the 3-match series between India and Bangladesh was played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha in Nagpur. It was a chance for Bangladesh to make history by beating India in a T20I series for the first time ever.
The Tigers started well by winning the toss and choosing to chase as the dew was expected in the second half. India made one change, bringing in Manish Pandey for Krunal Pandya, while Mohammad Mithun came into the Bangladeshi side.
India lost Rohit Sharma for 2 and then Dhawan for 19. Then KL Rahul (52) and Shreyas Iyer (62 with 5 sixes and 3 fours) added 59 runs for the 3rd wicket. But Bangladesh struck back by removing these two, but Manish Pandey with 22* in 13 balls took India to 174/5 in 20 overs. Shafiul Islam (2/32) and Soumya Sarkar (2/29) was the pick of bowlers for the visitors.
In reply, Deepak Chahar picked Liton Das (9) and Soumya Sarkar (0) in consecutive balls, but Mohammad Naim and Mithun (27) held the fort brilliantly, adding 98 runs for the 3rd wicket. Chahar came back to remove Mithun, but Naim impressed one and all with his maturity and how he paced his innings, which started off slowly, while Indian bowlers struggled to get grip on the wet ball.
Things were going well when Naim was clean bowled by Dube for 81 (10 fours and 2 sixes), who then removed Afif Hossain the next ball to finish with 3/30 in 4 overs. Chahal accounted for Mahmudullah for 8 and Bangladesh found themselves knee-deep in trouble form a situation which was a cakewalk for them. Mahmudullah was also Chahal’s 50th T20I wicket, which he picked in his 34th game, the fastest Indian bowler to do so.
Deepak Chahar proved to be the bowler of the night for India as they miraculously made a comeback in the second half. He ended the Bangladesh innings quickly as he picked up the best ever bowling figures in T20Is- 6/7 including a hat-trick consisting of the wickets of Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Aminul Islam Biplob. He overtook Ajantha Mendis’ record of 6/8, which he took against Zimbabwe in 2012.
Bangladesh was bowled out for 144 and lost the match by 30 runs and also lost the series 1-2. Rohit Sharma meanwhile thanked his lucky stars as at one stage, Naim looked to take the game away singlehandedly.
Cricket fraternity was amazed at the way Deepak Chahar ended the innings swiftly and also praised the way India won the match and the series on Twitter.
Here are some tweets:
