As India defeated Bangladesh in Nidahas T20 tri-series in Colombo on Sunday, it was Dinesh Karthik who stole the show with his superb 8-ball 29 (not out). And the icing on the cake was the last-ball six hit by him off Soumya Sarkar, which led India to the trophy.
At first he took 22 runs off the Rubel Hossain over with shots of 6,4,6,0,2,4 to set it up nicely, and then hit Soumya Sarkar for a six over the covers off the last ball of the match - with India needing five runs to win - to help the team stay unbeaten against Bangladesh in eight T20s.
Here’s a ball by ball sequence of Dinesh Karthik’s unforgettable innings:
18.1 – Dinesh Karthik comes on to bat after the departure of Manish Pandey. He gets off the mark with a six, lifting a low full-toss over long-on’s head.
18.2 – DK continues his aggression, sending the ball across the boundary for a four through the long on.
18.3 – DK on fire, hits a six over deep mid fence. There was sheer power by DK that sent the ball over the boundary.
18.4 – Finally a dot ball. A caught behind appeal by Bangladesh goes in vain. The slower from Rubel does good to Bangladesh.
18.5 – Running a double on the pitch, DK keeps the strike to himself.
18.6 – Scoops Rubel’s delivery over the short fine. Cross the boundary with just one bounce. Finishes the over by scoring 22 runs in it.
19.1 – Vijay Shankar on strike, Soumya Sarkar delivers a wide. A low full toss goes past the leg side of Shankar.
19.1 – Sarkar deliver a dot ball, just what Bangladesh need.
19.2 – And here’s what India need, rotation of strike. Shankar takes a single to give the strike back to Karthik.
19.3 – DK fails to hit the ball to the fence, manages a single on a Yorker length ball. Shankar back on strike.
19.4 – Shankar directs the ball with a flat bat between backward point and short third to hit the fence. Another boundary for India.
19.5 – An edge-of-the-seat battle on the ground, Shankar caught by Mehidy Hasan off Sarkar. A slower does the trick for Bangladesh again. Two fielders almost collide but Shankar still has to go back to pavilion. DK is back on strike for the last ball.
19.6 – A flat six over extra cover – DK finishes it off in style. An overpitched delivery by Sarkar rightly punished as DK does a MSD to emerge a finisher, or wait, was it Javed Miandad? Whatever it is, DK’s heroics make it possible for India to lift the Nidahas T20 trophy.
