Nidahas Trophy 2018: Bangladesh vs India, Match 5, 5 talking points

Buoyed by an excellent opening spell from Washington Sundar and a century stand between Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, India thwarted an excellent effort from Mushfiqur Rahim to beat Bangladesh by 17 runs and race to the finals of the Nidahas Tri-series.

Rohit Sharma grit his way out of a rut on a slow surface as Suresh Raina played the role of the accelerator to take India to a competitive total in the all-important clash. Rubel Hossain's exceptional bowling enabled Bangladesh to keep a leash on the scoring rate but eventually, the total proved too much for Bangladesh.

Washington Sundar nipped out three of the top order batsman before Mushfiqur Rahim waged a lone battle to take Bangladesh to the cusp of victory. But without adequate support, Rahim couldn't quite pull it off even as Mohammad Siraj continued to leak runs at a quicker rate than the municipality water tank.

---

#5 Rohit Sharma puts his poor form behind him

Rohit blasted his way to a terrific knock after a slow start

Rohit Sharma stuck to his tried and tested ODI mantra of biding time at the crease before going bonkers in the decisive T20I match against Bangladesh. He was on 10 off 15 balls at one point of time but gathered momentum as the match went on, reaching his half-century in 42 balls.

He had been the first of the two openers to be dismissed in 8 out of 9 matches in South Africa in the limited-overs leg and hadn't gotten going in the Nidahas Trophy despite getting game time against his favourite opposition, the Sri Lankans.

At Colombo, he switched to starting slow and compiled a deserved half-century. Sadly he could not convert it into a ton despite being out there till the last ball of the innings.

#4 Suresh Raina comes well

Raina gave Sharma good support in a century stand

With Sharma biding his time, India needed an aggressor despite the track being on the slower side. Suresh Raina, who had a handful of good starts in the series and in South Africa, came in with much more determination and gave the Hitman good company, running hard, finding the much-needed boundaries and keeping the scorecard ticking.

The duo put on a century stand batting together till the final over of the innings and took India to an above par total on a sluggish Colombo surface. Raina grasped the game required on the wicket pretty early and contained himself while scoring at an impressive rate of 150+. He fell three short of a deserved half-century.

#3 Rubel Hossain pulls India back

Rubel was excellent with the ball for Bangladesh

With Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma involved in a threatening partnership of 70 in less than 10 overs, Bangladesh sorely needed a lift from one of their bowlers. Rubel Hossain, the seamer, had bowled just one over up front and returned in the tenth over to clean up Dhawan's stumps with an outswinging yorker. He conceded just four in an extremely tight over.

Though Raina managed to knock a couple of fours in his next over, the fast bowler returned to bowl a terrific final over. He had Suresh Raina caught in the deep off the first ball and conceded just four runs in a superb over that plucked out the momentum from the Indian innings. His overall spell read 4-0-27-2 and it gave Bangladesh a real sniff at India.

#2 Washington Sundar opens up Bangladesh's top order

Sundar picked up three in the powerplay

India started with spin and Washington Sundar, adept with the new ball, stepped up and unleashed all of his 18-year-old self on the hapless Bangladeshis. He beat Liton Das with flight as he stepped up to charge the bowler and was stumped off his very first over.

As Soumya Sarkar tried to slog his way out of Sundar's niggardly bowling, he was cleaned up by the ball that went with the arm. He had Tamim on his radar for a while and took out his off-stump with another ball that floated up and went with its line.

In his first three overs, Sundar conceded 18 and picked up three wickets, effectively derailing Bangladesh's run chase.

#1 Mushfiqur Rahim carries Bangladesh single-handedly

Propelled by an in-form Rahim, Bangladesh came close

Washington Sundar's opening burst had all but tilted the game in India's favour. But that man, who prematurely celebrated a supposedly impending victory two years back, showed yet again that he is Bangladesh's most reliable batsman across formats.

The wicket-keeper batsman, coming off the back of a brilliant half-century in a record run-chase, threatened to take Bangladesh to the target single-handedly.

Rahim took on Siraj for two fours and a six before Sabbir Rahman, inspired by his partner, eased his workload with a cameo. Rahman departed to Thakur but Bangladesh still had places to go and Rahim completed his half-century while carrying Bangladesh on his shoulders. Despite doing his best, Rahim couldn't quite take his side over the line.