FATULLAH (BANGLADESH), Feb 26 (PTI): Skipper Virat Kohli smashed a magnificent 136 and shared a 213-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane (73) to lead India to a comfortable six-wicket win over hosts Bangladesh in the Asia Cup, here today.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim had also hit a sparkling ton to help the hosts post a challenging 279 for seven after being asked to take first strike.
While Rahim�s excellent knock went in vain, Kohli�s effort resulted in victory of his team, which has copped a lot of criticism of late for their pathetic performance overseas.
Courtesy Kohli�s 19th One-day hundred India recovered well after cheap dismissal of the openers Shikhar Dhawan (28) and Rohit Sharma (21) and overhauled the target with six balls to spare. It was India�s first win in the 2014 calender.
Rahane played a key role in India�s win as he and Kohli batted together for 33 overs before being separated. India were just 13 runs away from the win when Kohli was castled by pacer Rubel Hossain in the 46th over.
His 136-run knock came off 122 balls with 18 boundaries, including two sixes while Rahane took 83 balls for his innings which had seven fours and a six.
The only blot in Kohli�s innings was when on 35 he flicked uppishly at square leg but fielder Rubel could not reach out to the ball.
Rahim had led from the front with a gritty 113-ball 117 and that century came after he took a nasty hit on his ribs by a Varun Aaron beamer.
It was first century for Bangladesh against India since Alok Kapali�s hundred in an Asia Cup in June 2008. Young opener Anamul Haque (77) too impressed with a half-century in a 133-run third wicket partnership with his skipper.
The clinical win should also give India a big relief after their embarrassing defeats against New Zealand. They also avenged their last defeat to Bangladesh that cost them a final place in 2012 Asia Cup, also held here.
Mohammad Shami was the pick of Indian bowlers, scalping 4/50 from his quota while it was a flop show for Aaron, who gave away 74 runs before being barred after 7.5 overs for two waist high deliveries, with one of them hitting Mushfiqur.
A less than seven thousand crowd in a 17,000 capacity stadium in Narayangonj district in the southern suburbs of Dhaka did not exactly give it a home-like feel for Bangladesh, as India opted for a run-chase.
A disciplined Shami, who made the first breakthrough in the form of Shamsur Rahman (7) and Ashwin�s first-ball wicket after a brilliant stumping by Karthik, reduced the hosts to 49/2 in the 13th over and for a moment it seemed like Bangladesh were playing away from home with the stadium not even half-filled.
SCORECARD
Bangladesh
Anamul b Aaron 77
Shamsur c and b Shami 7
Mominul st Karthik b Ashwin 23
Mushfiqur c Sharma b Shami 117
Naeem c Ashwin b Shami 14
Nasir c Karthik b Shami 1
Ziaur c Aaron b Kumar 18
Sohag not out 3
Mashrafe Mortaza not out 1
Extras: (B-1, LB-3, W-12, NB-2) 18
Total: (For 7 wkts; 50 overs) 279
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-49, 3-182, 4-231, 5-241, 6-270, 7-276.
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 8-1-41-1, Mohammed Shami 10-1-50-4, Varun Aaron 7.5-0-74-1, Ravichandra Ashwin 10-1-50-1, Ravindra Jadeja 10-0-37-0, Ambati Rayudu 3-0-17-0, Virat Kohli 1.1-0-6-0.
India
RG Sharma b Ziaur Rahman 21
S Dhawan lbw b Abdur Razzak 28
V Kohli b Rubel Hossain 136
AM Rahane c sub b Sohag Gazi 73
AT Rayudu not out 9
KD Karthik not out 2
Extras: (lb 1, w 9, nb 1) 11 Total: (4 wkts; 49 overs) 280
Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-54, 3-267, 4-272 Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 9-1-44-0, Rubel Hossain 10-1-63-1, Abdur Razzak 10-0-55-1, Ziaur Rahman 5-0-20-1, Sohag Gazi 8-0-49-1, Mominul Haque 2-0-13-0, Naeem Islam 1-0-15-0, Nasir Hossain 4-0-20-0.
