In Stats: India’s Dodgy Chase, Liton Das’ Record in Asia Cup Final

Here’s a look at the Asia Cup final between India and Bangladesh through numbers.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India will have to make place for yet another trophy in their trophy cabinet at the Cricket Centre in Mumbai after Team India clinched the Asia Cup 2018. In the final played at the Dubai Cricket Stadium on Friday, India defeated Bangladesh by three wickets. After dismissing Bangladesh for 222 in 48.3 overs, the Men in Blue only just edged past their opponents, chasing down the target off the very last ball of the match.

The win in Friday’s final would give the Indian team their sixth Asia Cup one-day title; they have now won the competition more than any of the Asian teams.

The last time the Indian team won the 50-over Asia Cup was in 2010, when Team India – led by MS Dhoni – defeated hosts Sri Lanka by 81 runs in the final.

Match Recap: Poor Cricket All Round

The Asia Cup 2018 final can best be described as a contest between two teams who played poor cricket and the team that played the lesser degree of poor cricket walked away winners.

Bangladesh opted to bat first and their openers Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan stitched together the team’s first century opening partnership in more than 20 months. The opening partnership was one of the misfiring departments in this tournament for Bangladesh, and that problem was taken care of by the new opening pair who stitched together a 120-run opening stand – Bangladesh’s best against India.

But once the opening pair were separated – Kedar Jadhav’s golden arm causing the damage – Bangladesh suffered a dramatic collapse to be bowled out for 222. The collapse was the result of poor application by the batsmen, and discipline shown by the Indian players – in the bowling, fielding and wicket-keeping departments. Bangladesh dominated the first twenty overs of that innings, and India did the better of the two teams in the remaining 30 overs.

The star in Bangladesh’s innings was undoubtedly Liton Das, who scored his maiden century in ODIs. The 23-year old, who had had a highest score of 41 in 17 previous ODIs, tore into the Indian bowlers early on and carried on to covert it into three figures. He brought up his half-century off 33 balls – the joint fastest for Bangladesh against India, but slowed down thereafter, consuming 54 more deliveries to get to his hundred.

Credit to the Indian bowlers for pulling things back after the punishment they received in the first twenty overs. Kedar Jadhav picked up two of the first three wickets, while the likes of Kuldeep Yadav (3-45), Jasprit Bumrah (1-39) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1-31) too chipped in. Ravindra Jadeja didn’t pick up a wicket (although he kept the runs down), but he made a crucial contribution in the field; his brilliant fielding effort at cover resulted in the run out of Mohammad Mithun.

A word of appreciation for MS Dhoni’s work behind the stumps; the two stumpings he effected were as quick as ever, and he took his tally of dismissals in the Asia Cup to 36 – making him the most successful wicket-keeper in the competition alongside Kumar Sangakkara. Dhoni reached an important personal milestone too: the stumping to dismiss Mashrafe Mortaza would be his 800th dismissal in international cricket.

India’s Chequered Chase

A chase of 223 should have been a straightforward affair – especially given how dominant India have been with the bat right through the competition. India began well too – with the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan adding 35 runs in 4.3 overs before the latter gifted his wicket away, holing out to the man at mid-off.

One-drop Ambati Rayudu perished to a poor shot, while Rohit Sharma found the man patrolling square-leg and Team India were reduced to 83-3 in the 17th over.

It was at this stage that Bangladesh tightened their grip on the match. Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni stitched together a 54-run partnership, but they consumed 14 overs for that partnership – scoring at under four runs an over. With the field open, and gaps available to be milked, it was inexplicable that the two experienced players chose to play defensively. Karthik played 36 dot balls in his 61-ball outing, while MS Dhoni played 41 dot balls in his 67-ball knock.

Having played so many deliveries, the duo should have completed the job. But both batsmen disappointed. Dinesh Karthik played all around a full toss to be adjudged LBW, while Dhoni steered one angled across him to the wicket-keeper. Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar rescued Team India and took the team to the brink before they too were dismissed playing poor strokes.

Eventually, it was the injured Kedar Jadhav (who returned to bat after having retired hurt earlier to nurse his hamstring) and Kuldeep Yadav who completed the job for Team India. The Men in Blue needed 6 runs off the final over, and Jadhav and Yadav did it without breaking a sweat; they knocked the ball into the gaps, picked up ones and ran the brace on one occasion to take the team home.