JOIN USSri Lanka were sorely missed at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday evening. Their absence was felt on the field, the thrill and excitement of a close contest completely absent, and off it, with the stands staying relatively empty for the duration of the game. India, however, would not have felt Sri Lanka's absence, for it gave them a chance to secure a comfortable six-wicket win against Bangladesh.
Winning the toss and putting Bangladesh in, Rohit Sharma called on Jaydev Unadkat and Washington Sunder to share the new ball. Sundar was impressive once more, keeping his end tight, building pressure as Unadkat got the breakthrough. Soumya Sarkar flicking off his pads, found Yuzvendra Chahal at short fine-leg and India were on their way.
Shardul Thakur was the next to get among the wickets, a short ball to Tamim Iqbal flying off the edged pull shot to deep fine-leg. When Mushfiqur Rahim feathered an edge to Dinesh Karthik off Vijay Shankar, Bangladesh had slumped to 66 for 3 and it was going to take something special to reach a competitive total.
The man who could do that was Mahmudullah, the captain but his eagerness got the better of him as he punched an innocuous delivery from Vijay straight to the fielder on the off side fence.
From there on, there was little chance for Bangladesh to overcome India. Rohit had hands on hips more than once in frustration as his team made sloppy lapses, dropping as many as three catches and bowling 11 wides and two no-balls. But, fortunately for the Indian captain, Bangladesh were in no position to cash in on the bonuses that came their way. Sabbir Rahman, with 30, made the only significant contribution in the lower order, but Chahal proved to be un-hittable once more ending with one for 19 from his four overs. With Sundar bowling his complement for only 23 runs, even the profligacy of Vijay and Unadkat, the men responsible for the most extra deliveries, only took the score to 139 for 8 in 20 overs.
The chase was unlikely to be a daunting one, and even Rohit's early dismissal, dragging Mustafizur Rahman back onto his stumps while looking to glide a ball to third-man, did not dent the confidence.
Shikhar Dhawan was in the mood to make the most of his form, even if Rishabh Pant, promoted to No. 3, failed to grab a golden chance. With no real scoreboard pressure, a good batting track and relatively friendly bowling on offer, the stage was set perfectly and yet Pant attacked recklessly once more, going hard at anything that came his way.
His innings lasted but eight balls before a violent heave to a wide delivery left the stumps shattered via the inside edge.
Suresh Raina brought a sense of calm out to the middle and although he was nowhere near his aggressive best, he built a partnership with Dhawan, adding 68 for the third wicket. Just when it appeared that all the hard work had been done, Raina (28) popped a simple catch to square-leg.
Dhawan might have settled for a comfortable not out, but an attempt to launch Taskin into the stands ended his innings on 54. All that did, however, was delay the inevitable, as India reached the target off 18.3 overs.