Dhoni dashes Tigers’ hopes

A much-improved batting display was not enough for the Tigers to secure their third success against India as MS Dhoni stood tall with his seventh hundred to shrug off the host’s best score with a six-wicket victory in the Idea Cup tri-nation tournament at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
The victory maintained the propensity of the team batting second chasing down any target as dew played havoc with the efforts of the bowling team. India proved that mantra again, recovering from an early hiccup, but they must thank Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan who took a surprise decision to field first after winning the toss although ‘win the toss, bat, win the game’ had almost become a motto in the tournament due to the dew factor.
Smarting from two consecutive defeats Bangladesh will now meet Sri Lanka today at the same venue.
Chasing a stiff target of 297, the favourites India lost three early wickets at 53 runs including two danger men Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh but Dhoni led from the front during his unbeaten 107-ball 101 that contained nine boundaries. It allowed India to bounce back in the tournament after a five-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka.
The strong India batting line-up chased downed the total with 15 balls to spare.
As has been usual, the spinners failed to dictate the terms in the second session as they struggled to grip the ball, which helped Dhoni and Virat Kohil to make the rescue act keeping the scoreboard running. The pair steadied the ship adding 152-run for the fourth wicket stand before Kohil offered a simple return catch to Shakib for 91 runs.
Dhoni just reminded everybody of his heroic knock of an unbeaten 91 at the same venue in 2007, which helped India to turn the table on the Tigers. Suresh Riana was the other notable scorer with an unbeaten 51 off 43 deliveries that included five fours and a massive six.
Earlier, “Are you sure?” was the surprise query from everyone entering into the ground after completion of the toss as Shakib decided to bat first even though it was hyped up to be an obvious choice to bowl first drawing on the experiences of the previous two games.
The discussion over the surprise decision however took a backseat once Tamim Iqbal sent the Indians on leather hunt much to the delight of electrifying crowd in a chilly afternoon. The left-hander went dancing down the wicket a couple of times to clear the fence and thus brought back the bitter memory for the Indian pace bowlers of the 2007 World Cup.
On a flat track and in front of a 20,000-strong jubilant crowd, the dashing left-hander put the opposition bowlers to the sword no matter how frequently India skipper Dhoni changed his bowlers. His stroke-filled knock virtually set the tone for the Bangladesh innings.
The disciplined and professional approach of the Tigers batsmen, thanks to Imrul Kayes (70), Mohammad Ashraful (29), Rokibul Hasan (32) and last but not least Mahmudullah Riyad (60 not out), enabled Bangladesh to put up their best score of 296-6 against India.
Coach Jamie Siddons must be the happiest man to see the application of his charges in the middle. If Tamim took charges during his dazzling 42-ball 60 to ease the pressure then his opening partner Imrul Kayes showed patience in the other end during his 100-ball 70 that contained five fours and a six hit over long-off against Virender Sehwag.
Tamim’s blistering knock that featured ten boundaries and a huge six over mid-wicket came to an end when the Indian strategy of supplying short balls worked but before the dismissal he gave the team a solid foundation as the opening stand amassed 80 runs, their best effort against India.
Ashraful, along with Kayes who must thank Harbhajan Singh for spilling an easy catch when he was on three and Indian skipper Dhoni who dropped him on 67, consolidated the innings further during their 68-run association in the second wicket before Ashraful was bowled by spinner Ravindra Jadeja, a soft dismissal as the right-hander looked to run it down to third man when the ball was pitched within the stumps.
The Bangladesh innings could have been much better had Shakib not continued his bad form, this time it was a foolish run out which caused him to return with a first-ball duck while Mushfiqur Rahim also returned to pavilion cheaply but Riyad’s third half-century gave the side a strong position to defend under light.
Riyad continued his good form when the right-hander smashed eight boundaries to score an unbeaten 60 off 45 balls.
At one stage, a score of over three hundred seemed more than a probability but 296 was not at all that bad to create an opportunity for the bowlers.
But in the end the bold decision to bat first, came back to haunt them.

Courtesy of The Daily Star