28th September 2018 saw an exciting Asia Cup Final between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh cricket team progressed significantly and established their position by beating Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to reach the finale alongside India who were clearly a better side and were unbeaten in the tournament.
In the Final, Bangladesh were sent in by India and they surprised everyone by opening with their all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz along with the regular opener Liton Das. It looked like a masterstroke as Miraz and Liton added 120 runs in 20 overs. Liton was in sublime touch and although Miraz was not scoring quickly he was steady. 300 plus score looked a real possibility. Finally, the all-rounder Kedar Jadav broke the partnership and that immediately changed the game. That one wicket gave the Indian spinners the opening they needed. Next four Bangladeshi batsmen, including Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, went for single-digit scores and Bangladesh crashed to 151/5 before Liton built a partnership with Soumya Sarkar. Liton reached his maiden hundred and was the next one to go in a controversial circumstance as the third umpire decision of giving him out was debated due to the unclear camera angles. Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for just 222 in the 49th over. Kuldeep Yadav finished with three wickets and Kedar Jadav picked up two wickets.
India were without their chase expert Virat Kohli and although the openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had a blistering start they kept losing regular wickets. At 160 when MS Dhoni was dismissed as the 5th wicket they still needed 63 runs in 14 overs. And then Kedar Jadav had to go off following a hamstring injury. Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar batted well and added 45 runs amidst lots of tension but once both of them were dismissed within the space of six balls Jadav came out to continue his innings. They required nine runs of last 11 balls and could manage to take only three in Mustafizur’s 49th over. The last over was delivered by Mahmudullah and the Jadav-Yadav duo went for singles rather than the big shots and Kedar Jadav finished an extra-ordinary match with a leg-bye on the last ball of the 50th over.
It was an excellent win for India who retained the Asia cup and continued to show their class in tough situations. However, Bangladesh also played well and kept their head high. Liton Das got the Man-of-the-Match for his scintillating hundred.
