Team India clinched the Twenty-20 tri-series on Sunday (March 18) by registering a nerve-wrecking four-wicket victory in the final against Bangladesh at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Dinesh Karthik was the hero for India as he smashed a last-ball six off Soumya Sarkar to seal the deal.   

Considering the pattern with which the tri-series had panned out, India had comfortably looked a better side albeit their 5-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener. However, the final was much more thrilling as India’s batting line-up made the mountain of Bangladesh’s 167-run target.

After being put into bat by India’s stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma, Bangladesh rode on Sabbir Rahman’s 50-ball 77 to compile a total of 166/8 on the board in their 20 overs. Indian spinners once again proved their mettle, with Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar claiming 4 wickets between them.

In reply, the Men in Blue didn’t experience the best of start. The left-handed pair of Shikhar Dhawan (10 off 7 balls) and Suresh Raina (0 off 3 balls) perished when the score was only 32. However, the Indian captain was determined to prove his worth in the big final and he did with a glorious 42-ball 56. Bangladeshi bowlers though managed to pull things back by dismissing Rohit in the 14th over.

At the end of 18th over India were requiring 34 runs in the last 2 overs, but the in-form Dinesh Karthik managed to turn things around by scoring 22 runs in the penultimate over. Needing 12 runs in the final over, firstly Vijay Shankar hit a crucial boundary in the fourth delivery and then the 32-year-old Karthik effortlessly struck a maximum over extra cover to clinch the match and the trophy. Karthik, who didn’t get out throughout the Twenty-20 series, finished the final with a breathtaking 8-ball 29.

The twitterverse was buzzing as soon as Karthik hit the decisive blow. Here are some of the tweets hailing Team India’s emphatic show and Dinesh Karthik’s nerves of steel.