India beat Bangladesh by 77 runs to avoid whitewash

Dhaka — Brisk half-centuries from India’s Shikhar Dhawan and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped set up a 77-run victory against Bangladesh in the third and final one-day international and stave off a 3-0 whitewash.

Opener Dhawan’s 73-ball 75 and Dhoni’s 69 off 77 balls laid the foundation for India’s 317-6 in their 50 overs after Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and put the visitors in to bat with threat of rain in the evening. The rain, however, did not arrive and Bangladesh, who had comfortably won the first two ODIs of the three-match series, were bundled out for 240 in 47 overs. Soumya Sarkar gave Bangladesh a rollicking start in their chase despite losing his opening partner Tamim Iqbal (five) in the second over and the hosts crossed 50 inside seven overs.

But paceman Dhawal Kulkarni, who also dismissed Tamim, pegged Bangladesh back by sending back the dangerous Sarkar after his 34-ball 40, that included five fours and two sixes. Barring Tamim, most of Bangladesh’s recognised batsmen got starts but none of them managed to convert them into meaningful contributions and got out trying to keep up with the required run rate.

Suresh Raina, whose 21-ball 38 ensured a 300-plus total for India, was the most successful bowler with his part-time off-spin and picked up 3-45 in his eight overs. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up two wickets while giving away 35 runs in his full quota of 10 overs.  Earlier, India lost Rohit Sharma (29) after a decent start but managed to maintain a healthy run rate on the slow Mirpur surface through a 75-run stand for the second wicket between Dhawan and India’s test captain Virat Kohli (25).