India started the World T20 with a 25-run over Bangladesh, but for a quite a long time during the Bangladesh innings, their players looked a little ill at ease. The Bangladesh pair of Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique had started the chase of 181 with real intent and purpose. The left-arm opening duo of Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan were being hit far and wide, with Siddique playing the lead. Despite losing both Iqbal (15) and skipper Ashraful (11) in the pursuit of quick runs, Bangladesh were making a real good fight of it, racing to 74 in just the ninth over. With the game poised to go either way, MS Dhoni decided to bring on Pragyan Ojha. And then, it all went right for India. The Hyderabad spinner picked up two wickets in his first over, including that of Siddique for 41 off 22 balls.
Bangladesh disintegrated from 74/2 to 77/4 within 5 balls and India were looking good for the win. Ojha ended up with figures with 4/21 in his quota of four overs and looks good for quite a few more in the tournament. Bangladesh, though, did not give up the ghost without a fight. Everyone gave the ball a real whack, with some of them clearing the fence, and the others falling short.
In fact, for a long time in the game, Bangladesh’s score was at par, and sometimes, even better than India’s at the same stage. The difference was those three overs that Yuvraj stayed in the middle, smashing them everywhere. The Bangladesh batsmen just couldn’t muster that same kind of attacking intent and the target looked distant and improbable.
Earlier, it was the Yuvraj Singh show that made the difference between a competitive and stiff target for Bangladesh. This might have been his first innings on the tour, but the southpaw hardly needed time to get acclimatised. He smashed Naeem Islam for three massive sixes off four deliveries and continued to find the boundaries with ridiculous ease. He provided the innings with the perfect end, smashing an amazing 41 runs off 18 balls, with 3 fours and four sixes. He held out to Tamim Iqbal at long off while attempting another big one. — Agencies
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