Dhoni, Kohli star in India’s victory over Bangladesh

more images

more images

DHAKA - Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored an unbeaten century as India overcame a top-order fumble to beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the third ODI of the tri-series at the Shere Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur here Thursday.

India, chasing a stiff victory target of 297 runs, lost three wickets for 51 runs before skipper Dhoni (101) and Virat Kohli (91) revived the innings with a 152-run stand.

Kohli missed out on his second ODI century as he was caught and bowled by skipper Shakib Al Hasan. Dhoni then anchored the innings and together with Suresh Raina (51) saw the team home in 47.3 overs.

Bangladesh gave a good account of themselves, first by scoring their highest total against any Test playing nation, and then had India on the mat removing Virender Sehwag (13), Gautam Gambhir (18) and Yuvraj Singh (1). But the depth in Indian batting came through.

Kohli, who scored his maiden century, a match-winning knock, last month in the Kolkata ODI against Sri Lanka, was full of confidence. He showed maturity and mixed patience with aggression.

With Dhoni at the other end, Kohli played his strokes without taking much risk.

Kohli struck seven fours in his 102-ball stay while Dhoni’s 107-ball knock had nine fours.

After the dismissal of Kohli, Raina played freely stroking five fours and one six for his 43-ball 51.

Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan decided to bat and the batsmen stood up to the task, putting up a challenging total of 296 for six in 50 overs.

Openers Tamim Iqbal (60) and Imrul Kayes (70) gave Bangladesh a good platform, scoring 80 runs in 11 overs. Indian bowlers fought back in the middle overs not allowing a big partnership to flourish. Mahmudullah, however, finished off with a flurry of fours, scoring an unbeaten 60 off just 45 balls.

Tamim played with confidence in his 42-ball 60 that came with 10 fours and a six. He got good support from the other end as Kayes stroked five fours and a six for his 100-ball 70. The two openers exploited batting-friendly conditions and made the Indian pace attack look ordinary.

Sreesnath broke the partnership as Tamim mistimed a pull to Gambhir. Mohammad Ashraful (29) and Kayes consolidated the innings with a 68-run stand.

Bangladesh then lost two wickets in a space of eight runs. Ashraful, who hit three fours, was bowled by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. Shakib was run out and Kayes was the next to go after addding 32 runs with Raqibul Hasan (32).

Harbhajan Singh got Raqib’s wicket before Mahamudullah and Naeem Islam (15) scored some quick runs in the slog overs.

Mahamudullah stroked eight fours, three came in the last over of Sreesanth.