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2016 Asia Cup Final: India vs Bangladesh - As it happened...

LIVE Blog

MS Dhoni hit 20 runs off six deliveries to give India a deserved title against hosts Bangladesh.

06 March 2016
23:41 PM

Over 13.5 || Score 122/2 (Kohli 41; Dhoni 20) Target 121

MS Dhoni reminds everyone of his power. He started the penultimate over with a huge six, which sailed over the mid-wicket boundary. A single, then, three runs to Virat Kohli.

Dhoni then played a sumptuous lofted cover drive for a four, then a six over mid-wicket boundary to win the sixth Asia Cup title.

23:32 PM

Over 13 || Score 102/2 (Kohli 38; Dhoni 3) Target 121

Finally a wicket for Bangladesh thanks to a brilliant catch at point Soumya Sarkar.

WICKET: Shikhar Dhawan c Soumya Sarkar b Taskin Ahmed 60 (44b)

It happened in the fourth ball of the 13th over. Five runs from the over. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the new man. India need 19 runs from 12 deliveries.

23:23 PM

Over 12 || Score 97/1 (Dhawan 59; Kohli 37) Target 121

Another big over for India. After Shikhar Dhawan fifty, Virat Kohli took up the challenge and hit back-to-back fours of Nasir Hossain's third over. But Dhawan also got his chance, and hit the penultimate delivery for his ninth four.

Their partnership is now worth 92 runs off 63 deliveries.

15 runs from the over. India need 24 runs from 18 deliveries.

23:19 PM

Over 11 || Score 82/1 (Dhawan 53; Kohli 28) Target 121

Shikhar Dhawan reached his fifty with back-to-back fours of Shakib Al Hasan's bowling. 11 runs from the over as India inched closer to their sixth Asia Cup title.

India need 39 runs from 24 balls.

23:14 PM

Over 10 || Score 71/1 (Dhawan 43; Kohli 27) Target 121

Right-arm offbreak bowler Nasir Hossain started his second over with two dot balls, even as Shikhar Dhawan tried to unsettle him with constant movement.

A single of the third delivery. Followed by two more singles, then a LBW shout. Kohli tried to play a reverse sweep but he missed the line and the ball crashed into his body.

Three runs from the over.

23:10 PM

Over 9 || Score 68/1 (Dhawan 41; Kohli 26) Target 121

Shikhar Dhawan hit the first six of the innings. After two singles of the first two deliveries of Mashrafe Mortaza's second over, the left-handed batsman hoisted the third delivery over backward square leg boundary.

Nine runs from the over. India need 53 more runs.

23:06 PM

Over 8 || Score 59/1 (Dhawan 33; Kohli 25) Target 121

Good over for Bangladesh. Playing in his first match of the tournament, Nasir Hossain conceded only four runs in his first over.

The spell also witnessed a call for run-out.

India need 62 runs from 42 balls.

23:03 PM

Over 7 || Score 55/1 (Dhawan 31; Kohli 23) Target 121

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza finally introduced himself into the attack. Virat Kolhi took a single, then two balls later, he played an elegant glance which beat the sweeper for his third four.

A single and Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan completed 50-run partnership. Seven runs from the over. India need 66 runs from 48 balls.

22:57 PM

Over 6 || Score 48/1 (Dhawan 30; Kohli 17); Target 121

Virat Kohli welcomed Shakib Al Hasan with a brilliant pull shot which raced through deep mid-wicket for a four. A single followed.

Then, Shikhar Dhawan played an exquisite cut shot for the second four of the over. A dot ball, then a a double. Dhawan ended the over with well-placed pull shot for his fourth four. 

15 runs from the over. India need 73 runs from 54 balls.

22:53 PM

Over 5 || Score 33/1 (Dhawan 20; Kohli 12); Target 121

A fine edge to start Abu Hider's spell. It went through the third man area for a four of Shikhar Dhawan's blade. After a dot ball, Dhawan took a quick single with a drive towards mid-off.

In the next delivery, Virat Kohli took chance, playing a lofted drive over the mid-on fielder, who jumped, but was beaten by the speed.

A quick single followed. Even though stumps at the non-striker's end was disturbed, not harm done to Kohli. Dhawan ended the over with well timed glance, resulting in a four.

14 runs from the over. India need 88 more runs from ten overs.

22:46 PM

Over 4 || Score 19/1 (Dhawan 11; Kohli 7); Target 121

Operating with Taskin Ahmed is tournament's leading wicket-taker Al-Amin Hossain, on 11 wickets. The right-arm pace bowler started his second over with two dot balls to Shikhar Dhawan, but a miss field at short fine leg meant a four of the third delivery.

Sensible betting from the two Delhi batsmen, rotating the strike. But Dhawan did wield his bat, playing a hook shot of the last delivery of the over, for a single.

22:42 PM

Over 3 || Score 12/1 (Dhawan 5; Kohli 6); Target 121

Brilliant bowling from Taskin Ahmed to keep a talent like Virat Kohli quiet. The over started with a dot ball with the bowler fielding a straight drive. It was followed by two runs, with Kohli driving through the deep cover. Then, two dot balls followed, before two singles.

Four runs from the over. India need another 110 runs from 12 overs.

22:38 PM

Over 2 || Score 8/1 (Dhawan 4; Kohli 3); Target 121

Huge over for Bangladesh. Al-Amin Hossain removed Rohit Sharma, caught at first slip by Soumya Sarkar.

WICKET: Rohit Sharma c Soumya Sarkar b Al-Amin Hossain 1 (5b)

Virat Kohli, the new man, started well, playing a cover drive, which resulted in two runs. Three runs and a wicket from the over.

22:29 PM

Over 1 || Score 5/0 (Rohit 1; Dhawan 4)

Rohit Sharma faced the first delivery, and played gently on front foot, for a naught. He glided the next delivery for a single, thus giving strike to Shikhar Dhawan.

The third ball crashed onto Dhawan's pads, but the line was way off the target. Dhawan then guided the fourth delivery on the back foot, with the ball racing through the point boundary. A dot ball and a brief stoppage, once again, with people and dangling messages disturbing Dhawan.

The over ended with a dot ball. Thus Taskin Ahmed conceded five in the first over.

22:13 PM

Over 15 || Score 120/5 (Sabbir 32; Mahmudullah 33)

Jasprit Bumrah bowled the final over. Excellent over, conceding only seven runs.

Sabbir Rahman started with a single, then Mahmudullah took a double. Good bowling from Bumrah, who produced a perfect bouncer to the shock of 30k odd crowd.

Mahmudullah took a double again. A full toss and Mahmudullah failed to make it count. A reverse sweep produced a single to end the first innings.

22:08 PM

Over 14 || Score 113/5 (Sabbir 30; Mahmudullah 28)

Huge over. Mahmudullah has punished Hardik Pandya. He started with a four , through the extra cover. The right-handed batsman then hit the first six of the match, over deep midwicket boundary. It was followed by a couple, before hitting second six of the over, this time over mid-on.

Pressure on the bowler, and a wide.

Pandya was lucky not to concede not more than a single of the next ball, which was a low full toss. The over finished with a single. 21 runs from it. And suddenly, Bangladesh are back.

22:02 PM

Over 13 || Score 92/5 (Sabbir 29; Mahmudullah 9)

Huge over for Bangladesh as Ashish Nehra conceded 14 runs, including two fours. Newly arrived Mahmudullah is already on 9 off 4 balls. And Sabbir Rahman is batting sensibly, at 29 off 26 balls.

22:00 PM

Over 12 || Score 78/3 (Sabbir 24; Mahmudullah 0)

How on earth. Mushfiqur Rahim have reached the crease, but was out, with his bat gangling in the air. Good throw from Virat Kolhi.

WICKET: Mushfiqur Rahim run out 4 (5b)

Indian vice-captain then took a good catch at deep mid-wicket to dismiss Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza.

WICKET: Mashrafe Mortaza c Virat Kohli b Ravindra Jadeja 0 (1b)

Mahmudullah is the new man. Seven runs and two wickets from Jadeja's third and final over. 

21:49 PM

Over 11 || Score 71/3 (Sabbir 18; Mushfiqur 3)

Hardik Padya returned. Good over from the 22-year-old. Sabbir Rahman missed a slog to start the over with a dot. Rahman took a single of the next delivery. Mushfiqur Rahim responded with a single. A dot followed, before Rahman ran for a single. Bumrah fielded brilliantly off his own bowling to stop a straight drive. Only three runs from the over.

21:45 PM

Over 10 || Score 68/3 (Sabbir 16; Mushfiqur 2)

Ravinchandran Ashwin struck in the first ball of his final over, removing dangerous Shakib Al Hasan. Jasprit Bumrah took the catch at short fine leg, off an edge.

WICKET: Shakib Al Hasan c Jasprit Bumrah b Ravichandran Ashwin 21 (16b)

Mushfiqur Rahim is the new man. Four runs and a wicket.

21:40 PM

Over 9 || Score 64/2 (Sabbir 14; Shakib 21)

Busy over from Ravindra Jadeja. Sabbir Rahman took a single of the first ball, then Shakib Al Hasan played a lofted shot over extra cover for a double.

Three singles followed to make it a 6-run over. The partnership is now worth 34 runs off 26 balls

21:37 PM

Over 8 || Score 58/2 (Sabbir 17; Shakib 12)

Hardik Pandya into the attack. His spell started with a single, taken by Sabiir Rahman. Couple more singles followed. With that Bangladesh reached 50. Then, a disdainful pull shot from Shakib Al Hasan resulted in the first boundary of the over. The seventh over ended with a smart shot, scooping over the short fine leg.

11 runs from the over.

21:32 PM

Over 7 || Score 47/2 (Sabbir 10; Shakib 8)

Ravindra Jadeja conceded 12 runs in his first over. The over started with a single off Shakib Al Hasan's bat, then Sabiir Rahman rotated for another single.

Then, Shakib played an agricultural shot, half-pull, half sweep, for a four. Another single followed, before Sabbir Rahman depty played a reverse sweep for another four. A single to complete the over.

21:27 PM

Over 6 || Score 35/2 (Sabbir 4; Shakib 2)

Ravichandran Ashwin brought back into the attack. Rightly so, considering his streak against Shakib Al Hasan. Tidy over. Five singles, five runs.

21:25 PM

Over 5 || Score 30/2 (Sabbir 2; Shakib 0)

Brilliant over from Jasprit Bumrah. He conceded three runs to remove Tamim Iqbal. LBW.

WICKET: Tamim Iqbal lbw b Bumrah 13 (17b)

Shakib Al Hasan arrived in the centre to give Sabbir Rahman company.

21:23 PM

Over 4 || Score 27/1 (Iqbal 12; Sabbir 0)

Tamim Iqbal, after missing a full length delivery, took risk by lofting the second delivery over the mid-off fielder. He then stole a quick single.

Then, Soumya Sarkar played a straight drive of sheer power which almost take off the non-striker, for a four. He followed it up with another four, this time pulling a short pitched delivery.

And it was all that he could. Ashish Nehra removed him. Hardik Pandya took an easy catch at mid-off.

WICKET: Soumya Sarkar c Pandya b Nehra 14 (9b)

Sabbir Rahman is the new man.

21:11 PM

Over 3 || Score 14/0 (Iqbal 7; Sarkar 6)

With spin experiment done, Jasprit Bumrah replaced Ravichandran Ashwin. The 22-year-old manged to move the ball and some concern for Soumya Sarkar, who was heaving at every delivery.

Then, in the fifth delivery, India missed a run-out chance as the Bangladeshi openers ran for two against a possible single, with Ashwin fielding at mid-on.

Good over, three runs from it.

21:08 PM

Over 2 || Score 11/0 (Iqbal 6; Sarkar 4)

Experienced Ashish Nehra started, conceding a four. with Tamim Iqbal flicking. In the next delivery, Nehra erred in line, and first extra of the match. A wide.

Nehra then responded brilliantly, conceding only a single off the remaining deliveries to make it a 6-run over.

21:02 PM

Over 1 || Score 5/0 (Iqbal 4; Sarkar 1)

New ball to Ravichandran Ashwin. And with the first delivery, India had a hearty appeal for LBW. Tamim Iqbal was at front foot.

First run for Bangladesh of the fifth delivery, with a single. Then, Soumya Sarkar launched a ferocious cover drive for the fist boundary.

20:52 PM

Teams: 

India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra.


Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mashrafe Mortaza (capt.), Nasir Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain, Abu Hider, Taskin Ahmed.

20:47 PM

Team news: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Ashish Nehra are back, in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harbhajan Singh and Pawan Negi for India.

Nasir Hossain and Abu Hider in for Bangladesh.

20:43 PM

India won the toss and MS Dhoni has asked Bangladesh to bat first. Ready for a 15 overs shoot out.

20:35 PM

Game on. Match starts 9:00 PM IST. But the game has been reduced to 15-overs a side, meaning fielding restrictions for five overs. A bowler can bowl a maximum of three overs.

20:07 PM

Next inspection at 8:45 PM local time.

19:58 PM

Good signs! Covers have been removed and Indian players are out, playing football. Impressive work from the groundstaff. Magic do happens.

19:18 PM

Luckily, rain has stopped. But it will take a gargantuan effort from the groundstaff to make the field a safe one.

19:00 PM

Passed scheduled start of the game, and if the match fails to start by 8:30 local time, then overs will get reduce...

18:56 PM

Latest update is, the floodlights are back, but still raining. And we might, for a change, see a five-over T20 match.

18:39 PM
18:30 PM
18:24 PM

Anyway, here are the squads

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt. & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli. Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.


Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt.), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahaman, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib-Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyadh, Mohammed Mithun, Arafat Sunny, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Abu Hider, Nurul Hasan, Imrul Kayes.

18:16 PM

Hours before the toss, heavy rain lashes Bangldesh capital Dhaka and it's reported that floodlights at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium -- the venue of the final -- are off.

18:10 PM

Preview

The question now is, how good is this Bangladesh side? They have beaten two Asian powerhouses – Pakistan and Sri Lanka – en route to the final of the Asia Cup 2016. Reaching the final itself it creditable enough for a team, which was until recently considered an outsider in world cricket, the so called minnows.

The Mashrafe Mortaza-led outfit is capable of beating any team on their day in the limited overs format, including the slam bang version. Besides, at home, they are altogether a different team. Unafraid and full of confidence!

READ FULL PREVIEW HERE

They are indeed the worthy finalists. But becoming champions is altogether a different thing, at home or away. Because, India are a different opponent. They have known and felt it, in the tournament opener. India handed them a 45-run defeat. A huge one. And, head-to-head, it's 3-0, in favour of India.

So, Bangladesh don't start as the favourites. But it's an one-off match, the team which performs better on that day wins. Probably, that's what we are looking at. The chance of Bangladesh beating India makes this particular final an interesting one.

However, achieving feat will not be a walk in the park. They will need favours, from the playing conditions, from the crowd, and also from the lady luck. And as things are going now, they have all of them.

But, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team is a different beast, which knows how to turn the table in hostile conditions, against boisterous crowds. And most importantly, this Indian team doesn't rely on fortuitous events. Because, almost everyone in the team is a match winner.