NEW DELHI: Nitish Kumar Reddy announced himself on the international stage with a flamboyant 74 as a youthful Indian side delivered yet another commanding performance to thrash Bangladesh by 86 runs in the second T20I here on Wednesday. With the win, the hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
The 21-year-old Reddy (74 off 34 balls) played the most attractive innings of his nascent career while also taking a couple of wickets (2/23) with his seam bowling.
Reddy combined with Rinku Singh (53 off 29), who too sizzled with a blistering fifty, to help India post 221/9 after being asked to bat.
Aside from an early wobble with the bat, the Indians appeared firmly in control, dominating Bangladesh throughout the match.
Their bowlers were on target, and the hosts executed some stunning catches to restrict Bangladesh to 135/9.
As It Happened
Reddy and Rinku put up a crucial 108-run stand for the fourth wicket and pulled India out of a precarious situation (41/3).
Reddy looked in sublime touch as he effortlessly 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 towards 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 for Rishad, pummelling three maximums in the 10th over to take India past 100. The Bangladesh spinner looked clueless against him.
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.
He was eventually sent back by Mustafizur Rehman, who bowled a slower ball, but not before receiving a standing ovation.
Chasing the 220 plus total, opener Parvez Hossain Emon came out with an aggressive intent as he pumped the ball to the boundary three time but Arshdeep Singh had the last laugh as the left-arm seamer claimed the Bangladeshi's wicket in his next over.
Once the Indians spinners started operating, Bangladesh lost wickets at regular intervals. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was next to go as he became Washington Sundar's first victim.
Opener Litton Das' woeful run continued as mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy struck off his very first ball, continuing from where he left off.
The Bangladesh batter found the going tough and seemed happy to deal in singles with the required run rate skyrocketing. Veteran batter Mahmudullah (41 off 39), who is playing his penultimate T20I, was the lone warrior for Bangladesh.
Earlier put into bat, the Indian top-order was outfoxed by the pace trio of Tanzim Hasan (2/26), Mustafizur Rehman (2/36) and Taskin Ahmed (2/16). They varied their pace to get the desired results.
Bangladesh started the innings with some spin in the form of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Sanju Samson (10) 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 in the next over. After only two runs in the second over, Abhishek Sharma (15) 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 going for a walk.
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.
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