India barely broke a sweat in a thumping seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first T20I here on Sunday. The home team stayed on top right through the outing, first pinning Bangladesh down to 127 before knocking it off with ease.
It was a memorable night for Varun Chakaravarthy, who made his comeback to the national side after three years. The finger spinner came to the party with three wickets, justifying his inclusion in the eleven ahead of leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.
The packed house at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, hosting its first international match, was treated to fireworks in the chase. Sanju Samson (29, 19b, 6x4), Suryakumar Yadav (29, 14b, 2x4, 3x6) and Hardik Pandya (39 n.o., 5x4, 2x6) wreaked havoc to power India to the target in just 11.5 overs. Hardik got the loudest cheers, finishing the match in style with a huge six over midwicket.
Hardik was entertainment personified, executing a no-look ramp shot to Taskin Ahmed while staring straight back at the bowler.
Debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy enjoyed the show from the other end, finishing unbeaten on 16.
On a slow wicket, Bangladesh took a cautious approach and paid the price. The visitor was content to nudge it around, allowing the Indian bowlers to pile on the pressure.
The anchor was dropped as early as the first over when Litton Das skied Arshdeep Singh without purpose. In his next over, a consistent Arshdeep got Parvez Hossain Emon to edge it back onto the stumps.
Varun entered the attack in the fifth over and was unlucky to see Nitish drop a catch in the deep.
It turned out to be a minor blip, as Varun returned to prise out Towhid Hridoy with a length ball. The Tamil Nadu cricketer then turned to his bag of tricks, slanting one between bat and pad to end Jaker Ali’s stay. For good measure, Varun added a third victim in Rishad Hossain to complete his haul.
All eyes turned to Mayank Yadav, who was making his international debut. Mayank, who lit up IPL 2024 with his searing pace, started with a maiden. He hit the right lengths through his four overs, but could not crank up the pace. Mayank did not breach the 150 kmph mark - markedly slower than his IPL thunderbolts.
It seemed like the Bangladesh batters faced Mayank on reputation. The pacer took full advantage to record neat figures of one for 21.
HIGHLIGHTS | INDIA vs BANGLADESH 1st T20
Nitish was not as successful with the ball. His medium pace and variations proved to be easy pickings, prompting the skipper to keep him down to two overs.
Washington Sundar accounted for captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who jabbed a good length delivery back to the bowler. Arshdeep and Hardik expertly handled the death overs.
The clinical Indians were simply too good on all counts.
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