Cricket Classics - Part Xviii : 2018 Nidahas Trophy Final – India vs Bangladesh
Hello, fellow Sports Enthusiasts,
Cricket is not just a sport between two teams; it's a battle of skills, strategy, and capitalizing on clutch moments. Although the game has transformed over the decades, it has never failed to impress or leave us with unforgettable moments.
So, through this series, I will present some of the most iconic cricket matches that have made fans jump out of their seats. Let's remember those legendary games once a week. I am with another iconic match.
"Karthik on strike… last ball… and he goes over extra cover! That’s SIX! India have done it! What a finish! Dinesh Karthik, you beauty!"
This is one of the most dramatic T20I finishes ever. Dinesh Karthik of India pulled off a victory with a last-ball six leaving Bangladesh heartbroken once again.
The 2018 Nidahas Trophy was a T20 cricket tournament that was held in Sri Lanka to celebrate the country's 70th year of independence. India, Bangladesh and us were the participants, where each faced one another twice.
At that time, Sri Lankan team was in a very bad shape, and it proved once again opting us early by losing 3 out of 04 matches. On the other hand, the tournament was very intense with some conflicts between SL and Ban players at the middle, especially in the semi finals.
Rohit Sharma led the Indian team combining many young talents, and some senior players as well. They were at their best, being the top of the group stage, and being a finalist.
Bangladesh team was led by Shakib Al Hasan was with their full strength, and they were focused and intent to win their first major T20I trophy.
The date of the final was 18 March 2018 at . Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. As the hosts are not available at the final, and the dispute between the tigers, many Sri Lankans were supporting India at the stadium.
India won the toss and elected to field. The Colombo pitch wait sluggish, and Bangladesh did a great job at the end. They lost their first wicket for 27 runs, inside the fourth over, and wickets started to fell at regular intervals.
Anyway, Sabir Rahman held the fort from one end, and carried the inning until; the end. His 77 runs off 5o balls, helped Bangladesh to have some hope, as he didn't get much support from the other players. Anyway, with small cameos from Mahmudullah, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz towards the end, they put in a total of 166/8 in 20 overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal was the top baller for India taking 3 wickets for just 18 runs.
India started the chase well with captain Rohit Sharma gearing up. But Dhawan, and Raina fell in a quick succession inside the powerplay. Anyway, Sharma and KL put in a partnership of 50 runs, with a good strike as well.
Anyway, after their wickets Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar failed to accelerate and maintain the required run rate. From 10th to 18 the over, they just scored 50 runs. So, India needed 34 runs in the last 2 overs, which felt like impossible with the way they batted. Ban players kept the things steady with good balling.
Then Dinesh Karthik walked in when India at 133/5 in 18 overs. Rubel Hossain took the 19th over. 6, 4, 6, 0, 2, 4 - he smashed 22 runs off the 19th and brought back the hopes alive for India. 12 needed off the final over off Sarkar. Wide,0,1,1 was the first three balls. Then Sankar smashed a four, and got out in the fifth ball.
Luckily, Karhtik crossed before taking the catch, they needed 5 runs off the last ball to lift the trophy. Karthikcleared the rope with a flat six over extra cover. He did it out of nowhere scoring 29* runs off just 8 balls. He was never a regular Indian player, but got called for the World cup squad as well with this heroic inning.
See you at the next episode!! You can always suggest a match to discuss in the next episode.
src - Wikipedia
espncricinfo
Thank you.
Best Regards!
Cured by @damithudaya
@damithudaya
I am a Bangladeshi citizen but I still feel regret when I remember the match you wrote that day. When 34 runs were needed in the last 2 overs, I assumed that Bangladesh would win. Since Dinesh Karthik is a new batsman on the pitch, it will be a bit of pressure for him and when he took 22 runs off Rubel's ball in the 19th over, it broke my or all of us in Bangladesh's mind. When Soumya Sarkar bowled 3 balls well, I pretty much assumed that Bangladesh would win again, but when 5 runs were needed in the last one ball, we were quite optimistic. When Soumya Sarkar delivered the last ball to the off-side block, Dinesh Karthik batted it with full power and it crossed near the boundary.
First of all, if I talk about Dinesh's bat shot, it was a really beautiful shot, although the shot was powerful so it was 6, otherwise a batsman would score 4 runs from such a block line ball. However, Dinesh played the ball with full confidence.
I will tell you about the most heartbreaking match, which was the 2019 final match between New Zealand and England. Where there were 2 super overs and England won as per ICC rules. I hope you will elaborate on this game in the next post.
Yeah, you guys played well until the last moment. It was your match. Karthik played an unbelievable inning after being out of the team for a long time. Bad Luck,man!
I already talked about that here,
https://steemit.com/hive-199189/@damithudaya/cricket-classics-part-i-the-2019-world-cup-final
In 2013, just because of the Mohammad Ashraful case, I usually don’t support the Bangladesh team. However, this was a real chance for Bangladesh to achieve something from more than two teams in the tournament. But DK sieged the momentum and did a heroic job for his responsible team. It gives feelings of the 2009/10 tri-nation series Between Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Where Muttiah Muralitharan played one of his greatest innings. The same bowler, Rubel, made the chaos that time. The Nidahas Trophy final gave me a realization that I still love the BD Team no matter what I said!
Oh yes, I loved Ashraful then- odd move by him. Bangladesh came close, but that was an amazing knock by DK. On the other hand, Sri Lanka and BD players had an unpleasant fight as well, Mostly SL fans supported India in the final with that incident.
I can remember those Nageen moves! 😂
BTW, You can write about that match I mentioned.
I can't remember a lot about that match.. But I will definitely write about it as well!