Bangladesh were bowled out for 222 runs in the Asia Cup final against India at Dubai after Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first.
The Tigers were going great in the early part of their innings but stumbled dramatically in the middle-overs was was eventually bowled out in the penultimate over.
One batsman rose above all for Bangladesh in the final with opener Liton Das registering his maiden ODI century. Here, we take a closer look at what is his finest limited-overs innings till date.
STATISTICS
RUNS SCORED: 121
BALLS FACED: 117
FOURS: 12
SIXES: 2
STRIKE-RATE: 103.41
30-SECOND REPORT
Coming out to open the innings with Mehidy Hasan, Das showed positive intent from the very go as he unsettled India’s new-ball attack. The 23-year-old was the primary aggressor as the Tigers added 120 runs for the opening wicket. He was given a reprieve by Yuzvendra Chahal who dropped a sharp chance before racing away to a 37-ball fifty. Bangladesh’s middle-order suffered a dramatic collapse but Das continued in positive fashion from one end to register his maiden ODI hundred off just 87 deliveries.
He was eventually dismissed via a stumping after some sharp work from MS Dhoni but his 121-run knock singlehandedly propped up Bangladesh’s innings in the final.
Bangladesh batsmen today:
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) September 28, 2018
Liton Das: 121 off 117 balls (SR 103.41)
All others: 94 off 174 balls (SR 54.02)#INDvBAN #AsiaCupFinal #AsiaCup2108
GOT RIGHT
Bangladesh openers have struggled for momentum throughout the tournament but Das changed all that with an assured and controlled innings filled with fireworks. India’s new-ball pairing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been hard to get away in the competition but Das took the attack to them from the start. He was not afraid to use his feet to attack the Indian pacers in the powerplay and his onslaught saw the normally reliable Bumrah come under increasing pressure early on and lose his radar.
Even when Bangladesh’s middle-order collapsed around him following the dismissal of Mehidy Hasan, Das kept up his relentless march and kept the runs ticking.
GOT WRONG
It is hard to criticise the best performer for the team in the final but Das’ momentary loss in concentration cost Bangladesh the huge wicket of Mohammad Mithun in the middle overs. After belting a lovely drive towards cover off the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav in the 28th over, Das was caught ball-watching even as the non-striker took off for a quick single.
The opener failed to respond to the early call by Mithun who had to turn back mid-pitch before being run-out. It was terrible communication on Das’ part who could have averted the disaster by simply responding to his partner’s call. It showed a lack of application of the basics from the youngster in what was his only blip in an otherwise brilliant performance.
VERDICT – 8/10
For a man who was averaging just 14.06 with the bat from 17 previous ODI innings, Das displayed a coming of age performance in the pressure cauldron of a final. Showing no regard for bowlers’ reputation, the Bangladesh opener went past his previous high score of 41 in no time and laid out a solid platform for the middle and lower orders to profit form. Unfortunately for Das, the rest of Bangladesh’ batting card failed to rise to the occasion but the right-hander’s innings ensured that the Tigers would still have a competitive total to defend despite their collapse in the middle-overs.
Showing no signs of nerve on the grand stage, Das has finally backed up his talent with a performance to remember. This innings could be the catalyst for him to push on to bigger things in the future.
Bangladesh batsmen today:
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) September 28, 2018
Liton Das: 121 off 117 balls (SR 103.41)
All others: 94 off 174 balls (SR 54.02)#INDvBAN #AsiaCupFinal #AsiaCup2108
