Picture : BCCI/ Twitter
India finally came out with all guns blazing as they decimated Bangladesh in the final ODI of the three-match series to register a comprehensive 227-run victory at the Zahur Ahmed Chaudhary Stadium .
Bangladesh crumbled under the scoreboard pressure as the Indian bowlers made merry to send the hosts packing for 182 runs. Shardul Thakur was the wrecker-in-chief as he accounted for the dismissal of three Bangladeshi batters after Ishan Kishan smashed the fastest double hundred while Virat Kohli brought up his 44th ODI ton.
India had already lost the ODI series 2-1.
The Indian team amassed a massive 409/8 after Kishan and Virat dominated Bangladesh bowlers to share a 290-run partnership for the second wicket and in the process achieved individual milestones.
Chasing the target, Bangladesh did get off to a quick start with captain Litton Das taking the aggressive route early on. The batter shared a 33-run stand with Anamul Haque before the latter was dismissed by Axar Patel in the fifth over.
Mohammed Siraj got rid of Das in the eighth over to give the visitors a major breakthrough. The captain scored 29(26) before walking back to the pavilion.
Experienced batter Shakib Al Hasan walked onto the crease and tried to keep up the tempo that Das had established but the batter lost his partner Mushfiqur Rahim in the 12th over which reduced the scoring rate.
Mushfiqur was struggling from the beginning as he couldn’t find the middle of the bat and was removed by Axar, who scalped his second wicket.
The spin duo of Axar and Kuldeep Yadav kept the batters in check and made life difficult for the hosts in the middle overs. Bangladesh crept to 106/3 at the end of the 19th over with the required run rate moving to double digits.
Pacer Umran Malik troubled the Bangladeshi batters once again with his raw pace and dismissed Yasir Ali in the 20th over to break the fourth-wicket partnership.
Kuldeep then accounted for Shakib to dampen the hopes of the hosts. The left-hander scored a fluent knock of 43(50). The hosts were in a spot of bother with just 134 runs for the loss of five wickets at the end of 25 overs.
Washington Sundar got rid of Mahmudullah in the 27th over while Thakur dismissed Afif Hossain in the next over to expose the tail end of Bangladesh.
The final nail in the coffin was the wicket of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who had been brilliant with the bat for Bangladesh in the series, having played two match-winning knocks. Thakur dismissed him and almost took India over the line.
Umran Malik took the final wicket of Mustafizur Rahman as he sent the stumps cartwheeling and sealed the match for India. India finished the series on a high with a massive win of 227 runs.
Earlier, Kishan and Virat piled on misery for the Bangladeshi bowlers as they amassed runs at will. The duo helped India breach the 400-run mark for the sixth time in ODI cricket.
The left-hander smashed the fastest double-hundred in ODIs, becoming the fourth Indian to achieve the landmark. He joined the elite club featuring Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma who have scored double-hundreds in ODI cricket.
Virat etched out his 72nd century in international cricket to surpass Ricky Ponting’s record of 71 international centuries. This was the right-hander’s 44th ODI century which came after a gap of three years in the 50-over format.
Ishan Kishan was declared the Player of the Match for his incredible knock to become the fastest double centurion in ODI cricket.
