Washington Sundar sees three Indian wickets fall in 6 balls, returns 0 not out in crazy last over against Bangladesh
Washington Sundar helplessly saw three wickets fall, standing at the other end as he returned 0 not out in a crazy last over in India vs Bangladesh 2nd T20I.
Amid all the carnage inflicted on Bangladesh by Indian batters Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rinku Singh, and Hardik Pandya in the second T20I in New Delhi, all-rounder Washington Sundar had the most uncomfortable and rare experience standing at the non-striker's end. Sundar, who walked out to bat at No.8 after Riyan Parag was dismissed on the last ball of the 20th over, was stranded at the non-striker's for the entire last over. What's worse? He helplessly saw three Indian wickets fall, standing at the other end.
The left-handed batter did not get to face a ball while his partners came and went. Hardik Pandya was the first to go while trying to repeat a six he hit off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain in the previous over. He was out caught in the deep extra cover region for 32 off 19 deliveries. Varun Chakaravarthy was the next man in. He was dismissed for a two-ball duck. The next to go was Arshdeep Singh, who got off the mark with a huge six but got a top edge off the next ball. No.11 Mayank Yadav faced the last ball and took a single.
Sundar, who is a lusty hitter, could not make any difference to the scorecard in the last over.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rinku Singh slay Bangladesh bowlers
Nitish Kumar Reddy played the most attractive innings of his nascent career while Rinku Singh too sizzled with a blistering fifty as India posted 221/9. Reddy (74 off 34 balls) and Rinku (53 off 29) put up a crucial 108-run stand for the fourth wicket to pull India out of a precarious position.
Put into bat, the Indian top-order was outfoxed by the pace trio of Tanzim Hasan, Mustafizur Rehman and Taskin Ahmed. They varied their pace to get the desired results.
Bangladesh started the inning with some spin in the form of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Sanju Samson punished the off-spinner with back-to-back boundaries to plunder 15 runs from the first over.But Samson bungled up his start, getting out to Taskin.
After only two runs in the second over, Abhishek Sharma slammed back-to-back boundaries and looked to slog Tanzim Hasan but the 147kmph delivery induced an inside edge, which resulted in his off-stump cartwheeling.
Shanto introduced Mustafizur into the attack in the sixth over and the experienced campaigner started off with slower deliveries, with the third one paying dividends as Suryakumar Yadav chipped a cutter straight into the hands off Shanto as India lost their third wicket in the powerplay.
But Reddy blasted the Bangladesh attack to hit seven maximums and four boundaries in only 34 balls. Playing only his second T20I, he brought up his maiden fifty in 27 balls by knocking the ball toward long-on.
At the other end, Rinku, who hit five boundaries and three maximums, also showcased his big-hitting prowess as he smashed the first six of the match off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain in the eighth over.
Reddy too took a liking to Rishad, pummelling three maximums in the 10th over to take India past 100.
He first clobbered one across long on. Rishad erred in his length once again and was met with similar treatment as Reddy slogged it over wide long on. The third six came behind mid-wicket.
The 21-year-old was eventually sent back by Mustafizur, who bowled a slower ball once again, but not before receiving a standing ovation.