Handshakes all around. A rather bizarre game this. Bangladesh looked the part in the first ten overs or so of their innings, with India's seamers looking distinctly below par. Incredibly Bangladesh did not take a single in that period. Nehra struck with a couple of poor deliveries, and Zaheer kept improving, but it was the spinners who stifled Bangladesh. And then Sehwag came on and blew them away.
India's top order looked rusty - even Gambhir who made runs. Worries for Kohli and Sharma, who let by a good chance to assess the conditions. It won't get any easier against Shoaib, Malinga and co. Dhoni looked solid as always, and in the end, they still won comfortably.
Sanjay: "Dhoni has had his 38th not out innings with a score of 38 not out! no wonder his average is so good." After all, it is the average that distinguishes a good batsman from an average one!
Time for the presentation.
Shakib: "Losing all those wickets in the end was the turning point. Batting was not that difficult on this pitch. After a long time the fast bowlers did well, and that's good for them. We are up for the remaining games."
MS Dhoni: "WELL OF COURSE, if you see most of the senior players they did well, most of them bowled really well. As the game progressed it became really difficult. Good that we batted for half an hour before the break. Spinners won it for us. It is 200% difficult to bat under lights here (commenting on the low lights). Gautam provided a decent start. When he gets a start he normally goes on to get a big one. It is always good to get a bonus point if we can."
Man of the Match - Gautam Gambhir "It was only at the T20 World Cup that I did not do well, there has been a lot of talk about my form. This was a perfect pitch for me to come back on. It was a wicket where you had to graft. If Bangladesh had got 240-260 it would have been difficult. After the start they got we did not think we could keep them down to 160. All the bowlers did well."
Interesting there, Dhoni's comment on batting under lights. Even Malinga mentioned the same yesterday, with Afridi ,missing a couple of balls during the chase. I wonder if it will have a prt to play in the tournament.
On that note, it is time for us to end our coverage of the game. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. On behalf of Cricinfo, this is Nitin Sundar signing off. Bye!
G Gambhir lbw b Mashrafe Mortaza 82 (129m 101b 6x4 0x6) SR: 81.18
Batting Powerplay taken now. Soleh: "A problem with Shakib is that he doesn't seem to like any form of spin except Slow Left Arm which is why he always underuses Mahmudullah." Mortaza comes back on.
END OF OVER:30 | 9 Runs | IND: 158/3 (10 runs required from 20 overs, RR: 5.26, RRR: 0.50)
- Gautam Gambhir82 (100b)
- MS Dhoni30 (43b)
- Sohrawordi Shuvo4-0-21-0
- Shakib Al Hasan10-0-49-2
END OF OVER:29 | 7 Runs | IND: 149/3 (19 runs required from 21 overs, RR: 5.13, RRR: 0.90)
- MS Dhoni29 (41b)
- Gautam Gambhir74 (96b)
- Shakib Al Hasan10-0-49-2
- Sohrawordi Shuvo3-0-12-0