India booked a berth in the Asia Cup 2025 final with a convincing 41-run victory over Bangladesh. They also elbowed Sri Lanka out of contention in the process. Fuelled by Abhishek Sharma’s 37-ball 75, India got off to a flier but Bangladesh managed to apply the choke thereafter to limit them to 168/6. The multidimensional challenge posed by the Indian spinners, however, proved hard to overcome for Bangladesh, who were shot out for just 127.
The determining factor
India scored at less than a run-a-ball in the first three overs before going absolutely berserk to ransack 55 in the next three – thanks largely to Abhishek Sharma’s clean-as-a-whistle striking. Bangladesh, in comparison, failed to generate an equally powerful start to their innings.
𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹! 👍
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There was lateral movement at Bangladesh’s disposal and thus India couldn’t exactly blaze off the blocks. As Shubman Gill attempted to get a hang of the pace and bounce, he played and missed a couple of times and was fortunate to not be caught after chipping a delivery en route covers in the first over. Abhishek too mistimed a few in the following over, including the boundary he sliced over backward point while his intention was to go down the ground. Tanzid Hasan returned to produce an excellent follow-up over where he even elicited an edge from Abhishek only for the keeper to put down an arduous chance diving to his left.
India’s acceleration kickstarted in the fourth over as Gill struck a four and a six – both down the ground before Abhishek polished off the Nasum Ahmed over with a lusty blow over long-on. Abhishek launched a couple of maximums in the next over as well before flexing his range through four boundaries in the sixth over. Spurred by the surge in the latter half, India posted a dominant 72/0 in the PowerPlay.
Bangladesh breathed a little easy when Gill holed out to long-off in the seventh over. Shivam Dube, who escaped an early run-out chance after being promoted, could not achieve the designated goal of taking on the tweakers as he fell in the ninth over. Abhishek, meanwhile, resembled a rampaging bull, notching up fifty off just 25 balls. Looking at his explosive best, Abhishek was run-out quite spectacularly by an alert Rishad Hossain in the 12th over. He interceted a square cut from Suryakumar Yadav at backward point before throwing down the stumps at the non-strikers end to catch Abhishek short of his ground as he tried, in vain, to return to his crease after jetting off for a single. The Indian captain too was then strangled down leg in the same Mustafizur Rahman over as Bangladesh clawed back into the contest. India suffered yet another setback when Tilak Varma fell in the 15th over and their slowdown was significant as each of Dubey, Suryakumar and Varma departed for single-digit scores.
After staging an excellent comeback, Bangladesh managed to keep up the good work in the death overs even though Hardik Pandya managed to crack a couple of boundaries. An expensive over by Tanzim Hasan Sakib didn’t really precipitate the momentum-shift that India would’ve hoped for, with Mohammad Saifuddin conceding four off the ultimate over to restrict India to a par score.
Abhishek Sharma’s whirlwind knock halted by brilliance in the field 🫣
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In the defence, India’s faster men excelled with new ball too. Both Hardik and Jasprit Bumrah extracted swing to trouble the Bangladeshi batters. Saif Hassan got his innings underway with a streaky boundary through third man, although there was nothing remotely iffy about his thwack down the ground off Hardik. India were unable to overturn an LBW shout against Pravez Hossain Emon, as Bangladesh managed to up the tempo in the fifth and sixth overs, scoring 13 and 9 respectively.
The Indian spinners are a force to be reckoned with in the middle overs, and on Wednesday it was once again demonstrated why. Parvez Hossain exited in the sixth over and Towhid Hridoy followed suit, attempting a slog sweep off Axar Patel. Varun Chakaravarthy then bowled Shamim Hossain before Jaker Ali was run-out in the 13th over by an agile Suryakumar Yadav at short cover, leaving Bangladesh in a spot of bother at 87/5. Saif Hassan, a witness to the collapse, kept Bangladesh in the hunt as he brought up fifty with a six and cleared the rope two balls later too as 15 runs came off the 14th over.
The 16th over, bowled by Varun, was eventful. Saif was dropped, one of the five fielding blemishes on India’s part, while Saifuddin lost his wicket in the interim. Kuldeep Yadav got rid of Rishad and Tanzim Sakib off successive deliveries before Saif was handed his fourth reprieve. His charmed life was finally curtailed when Axar took his catch on the long-on fence. Nine wickets down and the asking rate well beyond reach, the writing was on the wall for the Asian Tigers who had their moments in the game but couldn’t string together an all-round effort to edge the favourites.
