Asia Cup: Kohli succeeds in captain’s quest

Scores century to lead India to a six-wicket win against Bangladesh.

FATULLAH:

Virat Kohli won the battle of the captains as reigning World Cup champions India defeated hosts Bangladesh by six wickets in the second match of the Asia Cup in Fatullah on Wednesday.

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim hit 117 off 113 balls, sharing a third-wicket stand of 133 with Anamul Haque (77), to lift the hosts to 279 for seven after India elected to field.

Kohli, standing in for the injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, then smashed 136 off 122 balls to steer India past the challenging target in 49 overs.

The prolific 25-year-old hit 16 boundaries and two sixes in his 19th one-day century, 17 of which have been in winning causes.

Ajinkya Rahane (73) provided valuable support to his captain, adding 213 for the third wicket with Kohli after India were reduced to 54 for two by the 13th over of the day-night game.

Kohli, later named the man of the match, preferred to dwell on the team’s performance rather than his own stand-out batting.

“I am very happy with the way the team performed,” he said. “It was good to see everyone step up in the absence of Dhoni.

“And it was very important for someone like Ajinkya to bat through the innings. He played beautifully. He is a very positive guy and works very hard. It was a good stand with him.”

Bangladesh spinner Abdur Razzak, who attended the presentation ceremony instead of his captain, blamed the evening dew for the defeat.

“We had enough runs on the board, but the dew caused problems. It made it difficult to grip the ball and we had not anticipated that. But we will need to push more for runs if we bat first again.”

Earlier, Rahim hit seven fours and two sixes in his second one-day century, before he was dismissed in the final over attempting a big hit.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2014.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.