Dhoni leads from the front, guides India to victory
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a magnificent unbeaten innings of 101 off 106 balls to steer his team to a six-wicket victory against Bangladesh at Mirpur, Dhaka on January 7. This is India’s first victory in the tri-series after having lost to Sri Lanka in their first match.
Chasing a formidable target of 297 for victory, India were soon in trouble having lost three of their top order batsmen for 51. Virender Sehwag (13) seemed lazy while getting run out and Gautam Gambhir (18) and Yuvraj Singh (1) followed soon. But Virat Kohli, maturing fast in international cricket, and Dhoni played intelligent cricket to add 152 for the fourth wicket before Kohli was out for a 102-ball 91. Suresh Raina then joined the Indian captain and they added 94 runs without being separated to see their team home with 15 deliveries to spare. In the process, Dhoni got his seventh ODI century and Raina remained unbeaten on 51 off 43 balls.
Earlier, Bangladesh piled up a challenging 296 for 6 after choosing to bat first. Opener Tamim Iqbal was in murderous form before getting out for 60 off 42 balls. His opening partner Imrul Kayes was comparatively sedate but top-scored with 70. Mahmudullah played a brisk unbeaten knock of 60 off 45 balls. The Indian bowlers and fielders had a poor day in the field with Yuvraj having the best figures of 1 for 33.
Dhoni was adjudged Man of the Match.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 296 for 6 (Kayes 70, Mahmudullah 60*, Tamim 60); India 297 for 4 (Dhoni 101*, Kohli 91, Raina 51*). India won by 6 wickets.
