India overpower Tigers to become Asian

DHAKA: India defeated Bangladesh by eight wickets in the rain-affected final of the T20 Asia Cup here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium Mirpur on Sunday night.Chasing a rather daunting target of 121, India won the match with ease in 13.5 overs to become the champions of the Asia Cup, played for the first time on T20 format.After losing Rohit Sharma for one, in the second over, when they were only five, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli took India out of trouble and added 94 runs from 67 balls before Dhawan departed.He made 60 off 44 balls with nine fours and a six.Then it became easier for Kohli and captain Mahinder Singh Dhoni to score the required 22 runs from only seven balls to reach the target.Kohli scored an unbeaten 41 off 28 balls with five boundaries while Dhoni remained not out on 20, made off just six balls with two towering sixes and one four. ‘Earlier, Bangladesh made 120 for five in the rain-reduced 15 overs a side match when they were sent into bat by India.Sabbir Rehman and Mahmudullah gave an unbeaten sixth wicket stand of 45 runs off just 20 balls after they lost five wickets for 75 in 11.4 overs.Mahmudullah smashed 33 off 13 balls with two sixes and as many fours while Sabbir scored 32 off 29 balls with two boundaries.The five batsmen dismissed earlier were Tamim Iqbal (13), Soumya Sarkar (14), Shakib Al Hasan (21), Mushfiqur Rahim (4) and Mashrafe Mortaza (naught).At the end of the match, Shikhar Dhawan of India was declared man-of- the- match while Sabbir Rehman was named player-of-the-tournament.