India win Asia Cup opener against Banglad

DHAKA: India defeated Bangladesh by 45 runs in the opening Twenty20 International of the Asia Cup 2016 here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on Wednesday.Chasing a daunting target of 167, the hosts were restricted to 121 runs for seven wickets as no Bangladeshi batsman except Sabbir Rehman could resist against an accurate Indian bowling attack.Sabbir made 44 off 32 balls with two fours and as many sixes.Only four other batsmen could get into the double figures ‘ Soumya Sarkar scored 11and Imrul Kayes made 14 while Mushfiqur Rahim and Taskin Ahmed remained not out on 16 and 15, respectively.Ashish Nehra was the most successful bowler for India claiming three wickets for 23 while Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin took one wicket each.Earlier, Rohit Sharma’s 55-ball 83 and late surge from Hardik Pandya steered India to a good total of 166 for six.Sent into bat by Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, India made a disastrous start losing three wickets for 42 but Rohit, who opened the innings batted superbly and took his team out of trouble.Later Pandya slogged an 18-ball 31 with a six and four boundaries. Rohit also struck seven fours and three sixes.Among others, only Yuvraj Singh (15) and Suresh Raina (13) could get into the double figures.For Bangladesh, Al-Amin Hossain bagged three wickets for 37 while Mashrafe Mortaza, Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan claimed one wicket each.At the end of the match, Rohit Sharma was given the Man-of-the-Match award.The second match will be played between defending champions Sri Lanka and minnows United Arab Emirates on Thursday.’