Nitish Kumar Reddy played a dazzling knock of 74 runs and took two wickets to help the Indian side thrash Bangladesh by 86 runs in the second T20I on Wednesday. With this victory, the hosts secured an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Nitish Kumar Reddy played the most exciting innings of his budding career, while Rinku Singh’s blistering half-century helped India set a daunting target of 221/9 in the second T20I against Bangladesh on Wednesday.
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s explosive knock of 74 off just 34 balls, laced with seven towering sixes and four boundaries, was the highlight of the Indian innings. The all-round performance by India, led by Nitish Kumar Reddy’s batting and bowling (2/23), along with stunning fielding efforts, sealed the series win with one match to spare.
Pitch and Toss
“The second T20 international promises to be a run-fest. On this pitch, a lot of runs have been scored historically in the past. Not a big ground by any stretch of imagination. 55m and 63m square, 72m straight down the ground. This has been a fabulous pitch in the IPL. It’s been 200+ consistently. It seems really hard, it’s going to be a nightmare for the bowlers to bowl on this surface. It looks like one of those surfaces where even 200 might not be enough.
Recently, a local T20 tournament, 300 runs were scored on this same surface. Teams that have batted first have won the games – five out five in the IPL. I’ll bat first, but with the dew around, you never know.” reckons Abhinav Mukund in his pitch report
Bangladesh skipper Nazmul Hossein Shanto won the toss and opted to field with Tanzim Sakib playing in the XI for Shoriful Hasan. Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav batting first made no changes in his playing XI.
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh propels India to 221 for 9 .
After a toss that didn’t seem to matter – Bangladesh said they wanted to use the dew coming in later to their advantage and chase, India said they wanted to bat first to test their bowlers in dew – Bangladesh opened the bowling with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, whose arm balls were either too full or short and taken apart by Sanju Samson. On a tacky surface, the fast bowlers managed to draw misbehavior though. Samson and Suryakumar Yadav fell to checked shots because of the slowness of the pitch, and Abhishek Sharma played on trying to slog Tanzim Hasan.
Rinku was the only one able to play smoothly from the start. Nitish Kumar Reddy got away twice in the early phase of his innings. When Litton Das dropped him down the leg side of Tanzim, Nitish Kumar Reddy moved to 6 off 4, and he was 19 off 14 when he survived an extremely close lbw – umpire’s call on impact on a reverse-sweep. That 19 included a six off a free-hit thanks to a no-ball by Mahmudullah.
Rishad Hossain is a leg spinner full of promise, especially in T20 cricket. However, against a Rinku intent on all kinds of sweeps, he bowled his fifth ball too full and was slog-swept for six. And then Mahmudullah offered the free-hit. In his second over, Rishad erred on length on both sides. Reddy took him for two sixes down the ground before Rinku pulled him for one. That 24-run over took India past 100 in 10 overs.
After that, only Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman managed an over without a boundary. Mehidy suffered the worst punishment as he couldn’t get Nitish Kumar Reddy off strike and kept bowling in his wheelhouse for 26 runs in the 13th over. A hundred in just his second match looked on but a slower ball from Mustafizur got the better of him to dismiss him for 74 off 34.
Powered by a 108-run stand between Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh for the fourth wicket, India muscled their way to 221 after being put in to bat. The pitch in Delhi played true to pre-match predictions, largely offering batters plenty of value for money for the shots they played. But briefly, during the PowerPlay, Bangladesh had their toss decision vindicated with three quick wickets.
Both Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav chipped to mid off with the ball appearing to stop on them while Abhishek Sharma chopped on after getting to 15.India had started the innings on a quick note with Samson picking two boundaries off Mehidy Hasan’s first over while Abhishek got one more in the same over.
But the duo fell in successive overs of pace with Taskin Ahmed and Tanzim Hasan Sakib striking. Mustafizur Rahman joined the party when he got the better of skipper Suryakumar Yadav and India were put in a spot of bother inside the PowerPlay, despite getting a healthy 45.
Rinku and Nitish Kumar Reddy took a short while before imposing themselves on the spinners. Rinku’s slog-swept six off leg spinner Rishad Hossain signaled their intentions while Nitish Kumar Reddy did an encore in the following over by Mahmudullah.
The 10th over of the innings showcased the switch in gears as Rishad Hossain was tonked for three sixes and a four by the duo that amassed 24 runs in the process. Even as pace was brought on straight after, the onslaught continued with Nitish whipping a six over long on and Rinku cutting a four to put Mustafizur under pressure.
Nitish Kumar Reddy brought up his maiden international fifty, off just 27 balls, in the following over as the partnership gathered pace rapidly. The 100-partnership came up with Nitish hitting Mehidy for three sixes and a four before he was undone by a slower one from Mustafizur.
His 74 off 34 had turned the tide by then, and the momentum gained was kept up by Hardik Pandya, who flayed Rishad for a four and a six straightaway. Rinku then went 4, 4, 6 against Tanzim to bring up his fifty off 26 balls before he pulled Taskin to deep midwicket.
Hardik and Riyan Parag kept the boundaries coming as India raced past 200 in the penultimate over. The relentless pursuit cost India in the back end where four wickets fell in the last seven balls robbing them of a higher total. However, 221 proved to be more than enough with Bangladesh barely mounting a challenge in the chase.
Nitish Kumar Reddy stars with the ball to as Bangladesh collapse to series loss
Even though Parvez Hossain Meroz punched Arshdeep Singh for three boundaries in the opening over, the innings fell apart soon after. Arshdeep had his man in the following over chopping on while Washington Sundar struck in his first, getting Najmul Hossain Shanto miscuing to long on. The spinners continued to dent Bangladesh with each of Varun Chakravarthy and Abhishek Sharma hitting the stumps in their opening overs. Bangladesh lost 3 for 6 in a 14-ball period that sent them spiraling downwards.
Mahmudullah and Mehidy arrested the slide briefly before the latter hit one straight to long off. Nitish Kumar Reddy capped off his exploits with the bat with two wickets in the latter stages of the innings to cap off a near-perfect day.
There’s a reason Bangladesh have never scored more than 215 in T20Is: their batters don’t seem to have the game for it. Looking for the unprecedented, the batters took too many risks and got off to a quick start but it was a matter of time before the risks caught up with them.
Parvez Hossain played Arshdeep on, Washington Sundar got Najmul Hossain Shanto twice in two games, Litton Das was all at sea against Varun Chakravarthy, Towhid Hridoy was done in by an Abhishek Sharma arm ball, and the game was all but done at 46 for 4 in the seventh over.
The rest was mere formalities, which involved a wicket for Riyan Parag, a stunning catch by Pandya, and a wicket at least for each of the seven bowlers India tried.
Despite Bangladesh’s aggressive start in the chase, with opener Parvez Hossain Emon hitting three boundaries in the first over, India’s bowlers quickly took control. Arshdeep Singh, after conceding early boundaries, had the last laugh by dismissing Emon in his next over. The introduction of India’s spinners, led by Washington Sundar and Varun Chakravarthy, completely derailed Bangladesh’s chase. Wickets fell at regular intervals, with Bangladesh losing 3 wickets for just 6 runs in a span of 14 balls.
Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das continued their struggles, while veteran Mahmudullah fought a lone battle with 41 off 39 balls. However, the required run rate soared as Bangladesh batters failed to keep pace, eventually managing only 135/9 in their 20 overs.
India’s bowlers, especially the spinners, were on point throughout the innings. Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, and Abhishek Sharma picked up crucial wickets, while Nitish Rana capped off the match with two late strikes to ensure Bangladesh had no chance of recovery. The all-round performance by India, led by Nitish Kumar Reddy’s batting and bowling (2/23), along with stunning fielding efforts, sealed the series win with one match to spare.
India outclassed Bangladesh at New Delhi to clinch the three-match T20I series 2-0 with a match to go. An all-round show from Nitish Kumar Reddy was the highlight of their thumping 86-run win – their biggest victory margin against Bangladesh.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Najmul Hossain Shanto the Losing skipper said : I think we made the same mistakes (like the first game), not a good thing as a team. We need to improve. I think it was a good decision (to bowl). They batted well after the first 6-7 overs, we didn’t execute our plans after that. Need to take responsibilities as batsmen, we got to believe in ourselves. The way our bowlers bowled, they were impressive, but we couldn’t take wickets in the middle overs like I said.
Suryakumar Yadav the Winning skipper said : I wanted that situation, wanted my batters (5,6,7) in that situation. Happy for both (Rinku and Nitish) of them. They batted exactly the way I wanted. You got to go out there and express. Just the jersey changes, rest remaining remains the same.
I wanted to see what different bowlers can do in different situations. Can they give me the difficult overs. Sometimes Hardik won’t bowl, sometimes Washington Sundar won’t bowl. I wanted to see what the other guys had in store, really happy with it. It was his (Nitish) day, I thought let him enjoy and make it large.
Nitish Kumar Reddy Player of the Match for his all round show said : Feels great to represent India, feel so proud about this moment. Grateful for everything. I should give credit to captain and coach. They gave me the license to play fearless cricket. I took my time initially, but after that no-ball everything went in my favour. It feels great to play for the Indian team. I want to continue in this same way. Want to keep repeating such good performances.
India win by a massive margin of 86 runs and take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the 3-match T20I series. Earlier in the evening, India lost their top three batters within the powerplay, however, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh had a fantastic partnership for the fourth wicket as the young batters stitched a 108-run stand. They smashed the Bangladeshi bowlers throughout their partnership and notched up their respective fifties before both of them departed.
Hardik Pandya played a handy cameo following that and despite losing wickets towards the end, India managed to post a daunting total of 221 for the loss of 9 wickets. In reply, Bangladesh lost wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 46/4 in the 7th over. Mahmudullah played an entertaining knock, but India strangled the opposition from the other end and were always in firm control of the game. The scoreboard pressure was enormous and the visitors succumbed under it.
India pounced on poor bowling from the Bangladesh spinners to get out of jail on a Delhi surface that started off as tacky but kept on improving for batting as the night progressed. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh took India from 41 for 3 in the sixth over to 221, with a finishing kick provided by Hardik Pandya. In better batting conditions, the India bowling still proved too good for Bangladesh, sealing the series win.
The Bangladesh spinners suffered on both comparisons. Their fast bowlers bowled 12 overs for 102 runs, but the spinners conceded 116 in their eight. And then the India spinners rubbed it in for them with nine overs for just 49 runs and five wickets.
India completed a clinical run chase in the first T20I and today have done an equally impressive job while defending. Nitish Reddy and Rinku Singh were the stars for India with the bat, while the bowlers came up with a complete team effort as they restricted Bangladesh to a paltry total in reply. We’ll be back on Saturday (12th October) for the coverage of the last game of this tour.
That will also be Mahmudullah’s T20I match as he is retiring from the shortest format. Can Bangladesh get a consolation win and make it memorable for Mahmudullah. Or will India make it 3-0 and spoil their party would be interesting to see.