3rd ODI: India avoid 'Banglawash', save face with consolation win

MirpurIndia restored some pride with aconsolation 77run win over Bangladesh in third and final ODIhere today to prevent the spirited hosts from securing afamous 30 series whitewashIndia put in to bat put up a competitive 317 for sixcourtesy underfire captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni 69 runs off77 balls and opener Shikhar Dhawan 75 off 73 Suresh Rainaput up an allround effort scoring 38 before ending withcareer best figures of three for 45The home team flattered to deceive in the chase with itsbatsmen squandering promising starts eventually ending at 240all out to give India their first and only win of the shorttourSuresh Raina L celebrates with Dhawal Kulkarni after the dismissal of Bangladesh cricketer Shakib Al Hasan during the third ODI match vs Bangladesh at the ShereBangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday PicAFPBangladesh were cruising in the first 10 overs despitelosing the experienced Tamim Iqbal 5 earlyYoung Soumya Sarkar 40 off 34 showed once again he is abatsman to watch out for during his entertaining stay at thecrease The opener played shots all around the wicket in thecompany of Litton Das 34 off 50 smashing five fours and twosixes to send the crowd into a frenzyLike some of his teammates Sarkar looked set for a bigscore until he mistimed a slower one off Dhawal Kulkarnigiving a simple catch to Ravichandran Ashwin at midonHowever the game was very much alive with Bangladesh reaching65 for two in 10 oversDas and Mushfiqur Rahim 24 off 30 got together andshared a 50run stand before the two fell in quick successionleaving their team at 118 for four in the 22nd over And whenpremier allrounder Shakib Al Hasan departed to make it 148for five Bangladeshs hopes of another famous win over Indiawere receding fastHowever Sabbir Rahman 43 off 38 and Nasir Hossain 32off 30 were not to go down without a fight The duo hammered49 off 38 balls for the sixth wicket as the dew made battingeasier in the second half of the gameIndia badly needed to wicket now and Stuart Binnyplaying his first game of the series provided the timelystrike by finding the stumps of the dangerous Rahman leavingBangladesh at 197 for six in the 33rd over The asking ratewas not much of an issue for the hosts but they just kept onlosing wickets at regular intervalSpinners Ashwin and Axar Patel were effective alongisdepart timer Raina Umesh Yadav brought back into the side waswayward again and ended up conceding 33 runs in four oversEarlier a collective batting effort and a late blitz from lefthander Suresh Raina ensured that India posted a challenging score of 3176 against Bangladesh in the third OneDay International at the ShereBangla stadium here on WednesdaySent into bat India relied on Dhonis 93run stand forthe fourth wicket with Ambati Rayudu 44 and Dhawans 75runpartnership for the second wicket with Virat Kohli at theShereBangla National StadiumShikhar Dhawan acknowledges the crowd after scoring a half century during the third ODI vs Bangladesh at the ShereBangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday PicAFPSuresh Raina hit a 21ball 38 with three fours and twosixes giving the innings a muchneeded thrustDhoni who was criticised following the teams first ODIseries defeat to Bangladesh and for his own poor run of formbattled his way to 69 runs off 77 balls hitting sixboundaries and a six in the processDhawan who found the fence 10 times facing 73 ballslaid the foundation and sporadically found the gaps Hisinnings was about immaculate timing delicate touches and deftplacement especially through the offsideTo start with the intent was there till Rohit Sharma29 in a moment of indiscretion threw away his wicket toMustafizurs away going deliveryThis was the third time in the series the batsman wascastled by the young leftarm pacer who has created a flutterwith backtoback fivewicket hauls in his maiden ODI seriesWith 13 wickets to his credit so far Mustafizur equalledthe world record for most number of scalps in a threeODIseries Ryan Harris being the other bowlerA 39run opening stand was followed by a 75run standfor the second wicket with Dhawan doing the bulk of scoringcourtesy some delectable drives through the offsideKohli 25 who once again failed to make it big aftergetting his eye in gave away his wicket while going for aneedless heave on the onside On this occasion Kohli wasdone in by the slowness of the wily Shakib Al HasanDhawan on and off kept the likes of Mustafizur RubelHossain Arafat Sunny at bay sending them scurrying betweenmidoff and cover But he too had a soft dismissal The Delhibatsman failed to connect a long hop for the agile NasirHossain to complete a good catch at midwicketIt was then left to the pair of Dhoni and Ambati Rayuduto consolidate Indias innings and the duo did that bypicking up singles and twos besides hitting the occasionalboundariesDhoni was calculative as well as adventurous He was notscared of stepping down the ground to the spinners and wasequally at ease handling the pacers Rayudu was not leftbehind comfortably rotating the strike even as his skipperproduced the big hitsFor Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 376 Teen sensation Mustafizur Rahman finished with 257Brief scoresIndia 3176 in 50 overs M S Dhoni 69Shikhar Dhawan 75 Mashrafe Mortaza 376 Mustafizur Rahman257 Bangladesh 240 all out 47 overs Soumya Sarkar 40Litton Das 34 Sabbir Rahman 43 Dhawal Kulkarni 234 RAshwin 235