India’s awesome twosome

Dubai, september 21

India captain Rohit Sharma played another classy knock after comeback man Ravindra Jadeja picked up a four-wicket haul to set up a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in their Super-4 match at the Asia Cup.

All-rounder Jadeja made a roaring return to limited-overs cricket, helping India dismiss Bangladesh for 173 after Rohit opted to chase at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

India then cruised to victory in 36.2 overs, courtesy Rohit, who struck an unbeaten 83 off 104 balls, his second consecutive fifty-plus score of the tournament. He was all class in his delightful innings that comprised five fours and three huge sixes on the leg-side. Rohit and MS Dhoni (33) shared a 64-run stand before the former India captain gave his wicket away towards the end. 

India play their next Super-4 game against Pakistan on Sunday.

India were hardly troubled in the chase after Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan (40) provided a solid start with a 61-run stand. Rohit changed gears after Dhawan’s departure. He brought up his 36th ODI fifty with a towering hit off Shakib Al Hasan over deep mid-wicket. 

Earlier, Jadeja, playing his first ODI since July 2017, broke the backbone of Bangladesh batting with his accurate left-arm spin and ended with impressive figures of 4/29 in 10 overs. 

The seasoned pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/32) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/37) too made life tough for the opposition. 

The saving grace for Bangladesh was the 66-run stand for the eighth wicket between Mehidy Hasan Miraz (42) and captain Mashrafe Mortaza (26) before the team was all out in 49.1 overs. Bangladesh lost their openers Liton Das (7) and Nazmul Hossain Shanto (7) by the sixth over. From 15/2, Shakib (21) and Mushfuqir Rahim had a task of rebuilding the innings but the former fell to a loose shot off Jadeja. 

Pak beat Afghanistan by three wickets

Abu Dhabi: Pakistan beat Afghanistan by three wickets in a thrilling Super-4 encounter. Batting first, Afghanistan scored 257/6 in 50 overs. Hashmatullah Shahidi top-scored for Afghanistan with an unbeaten 97 runs. Skipper Asghar Afghan scored 67 runs in the total. In reply, Pakistan reached home (258/7) in 49.3 overs. Imam-ul-Haq (80) and Babar Azam (66) were the main-run scorers. — PTI