Dhaka, Nov 7 -India made a strong comeback in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh as they won the second match by 8 wickets at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday. The stand-in captain of India, Rohit Sharma, hit 85 off 43 balls with six fours and six sixes in his 100th T20I appearance to guide his side to the victory.
With this win, India levelled the series 1-1.
Bangladesh lost the toss and were sent to bat first. They posted a moderate total of 153 for six in 20 overs with the best score of 36 by Mohammad Naim who just played his second international game.
In reply, India made 154 for two in 15.4 overs and won the game by a big margin. Lokesh Rahul and Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 8 and 24 respectively.
Aminul Islam Biplob, the young leg-spinner, bagged two wickets conceding 29 runs in four overs.
Earlier, Bangladesh started the match well as Naim smashed Khaleel Ahmed for three consecutive fours in the second over of the game. In the powerplay, Bangladesh amassed 54 runs with Naim scoring 27 off 20 and Liton Das hitting 26 off 17.
Liton could have been dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal in the sixth over, but Rishabh Pant performed a bizarre job picking up the ball slightly in front of the stumps, which was later signalled to be a no ball by the umpire. In the next delivery, which was a free-hit, Liton cleared Chahal for a four.
Liton escaped narrowly in the next over off Washington Sundar as well. He skied the ball and Rohit Sharma moved to his left side to pick up an easy catch but ended missing it horribly.
The right-handed batsman failed to take advantage of his chances as he fell in the next over while running for a single without even spotting the ball. It was a complete blunder from the batsman. Liton ran for a single with the ball in the gloves of wicketkeeper Pant who did not miss to dismiss Liton this time.
Bangladesh scored 78 for one at the end of 10 overs. But in the very next over, Naim tried to clear Washington through the long-on but the fielder was on the line, who grabbed the catch easily.
The Tigers lost two wickets in 83 runs. And after adding more 14 runs, Bangladesh lost Mushfiqur Rahim as well. He went to play a slog-sweep off Chahal. In the same over, Bangladesh lost Soumya as well.
The third and final T20I of the series will be played on November 10 at Nagpur, which is now a series decider. After the T20I series, both the teams will lock horns in a two-match Test series with the first Test taking place from November 14 in Indore and the second Test one to be hosted by Kolkata from November 22. – UNB
