Gritty fifties from Shakib Al Hasan and Towrid Hridoy followed by an all-round display from bowlers helped Bangladesh beat India by a margin of 6 runs in the last game of the Super Four of Super 11 Asia Cup 2023 despite a magical century from Gill.
Speaking about the game, India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Mohammed Shami struck first up in the third over cleaning up Litton Das for second ball duck while Shardul Thakur knocked over Tanzid Hasan for 13 and Anamul Haque fell for 4 runs in the sixth over to Thakur, leaving Bangladesh in trouble at 28/3. Axar Patel ended the short stay of Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 13.
Shakib Al Hasan and Towrid Hridoy led the recovery with a 100-run stand for the fifth wicket, both of them rose to their respective fifties in the course of the partnership. Shakib got dismissed for 80 as Thakur again cleaned him up while Hridoy got out for 54. Cameos from Nasum Ahmed (43 off 44), Mahedi Hasan (29* off 23) and Tanzim Hasan Sakib (14* off 8) down the order helped Bangladesh post a competitive total of 265/8 in 50 overs. For India, Thakur was the pick of bowlers for his spell of 3/65 in 10 overs.
Chasing 266, Indian batters did not live up the expectations as the debutant Sakib sent skipper Rohit packing for the second ball duck while Tilak Varma was out bowled for 5 runs courtesy of stellar bowling from Sakib again. However, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul kept the chase going with a fifty-run stand for the third wicket before Rahul became the third victim for 19 runs. Shubman Gill was magnificent in the chase bringing up his fifth hundred in ODIs.
Gill smashed 121 runs off 133 balls before becoming the second victim of Mahedi Hasan. Axar Patel, then played an important hand down the order with a 42-run knock before Mustafizur dismissed him in the penultimate over. With 17 runs needed in the last two overs, Mustafizur bowled a lethal over giving just five runs and picking up two wickets, eventually reducing the equation to 12 off 6. Tanzim Hasan held on to their nerves and defended it, winning by 6 runs
Let us look at the numbers and stats from the final game of the Super four between India and Bangladesh:
2 -Rohit Sharma became the second Indian captain after Dilip Vengsarkar to score a duck in Asia Cup ODI.
2 -This is the second win for Bangladesh against India in Asia Cup ODI, their first win came way back in 2012.
121 -Shubman Gill smashed 121 runs, the third-highest score by an Indian opener in Asia Cup ODI. Ganguly tops the list with 135* followed by Shikhar Dhawan 127.
151 -Mustafizur Rahman completed 150 wickets in the ODIs.
200 -Ravindra Jadeja completed the milestone of 200 ODI Wickets.
44 -Nasum Ahmed scored 44 runs in the game against India, the highest score by a Bangladesh batter while batting at 6 or below position in the Asia Cup ODI.
200 -Rohit Sharma completed 200 international catches.
101 -Shakib Al Hasan and Towrid Hridoy registered a 101-run partnership for the fifth wicket, the second-highest fifth-wicket partnership for Bangladesh in the Asia Cup ODI. 103 between Akram Khan and Najmur Rahman against India in Dhaka in 2000 tops the list.