Courtesy: BCCI
On March 18, 2018, the Indian cricket team won the Nidahas Trophy after defeating Bangladesh in a last-ball thriller at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. With the need to score five runs on the last ball of the final for victory, Dinesh Karthik, the Indian wicket-keeper batter, smashed a six over the deep cover boundary rope on the bowling of batting all-rounder Saumya Sarkar’s delivery, to send the Indian fans into ecstasy inside the stadium. The six from Dinesh Karthik is widely regarded as one of the best moments in Indian cricket history, especially since it was enough to win a trophy.
The final of the Nidahas Trophy 2018 saw Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who was taking over the reins from Virat Kohli with the latter being rested, win the toss and decide to field first. Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was exceptional with the ball in the match, picking up three wickets, including Tamim Iqbal and Saumya Sarkar cheaply in the power play before sending Mushfiqur Rahim back into the pavilion in the middle overs. Bangladesh batting lineup weren’t able to put together a substantial partnership through their innings, but Sabbir Rahman controlled the innings from his end.
During his impressive innings, Sabbir Rahman scored 77 runs in 50 balls with seven fours and four maximums before Jaydev Unadkat castled him. Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s cameo of 19 runs in just seven balls with two fours and one maximum, helped them reach a competitive total of 166/8 in their allotted 20 overs. Apart from Yuzvendra Chahal, it was Jaydev Unadkat, who picked up a couple of wickets, while Washington Sundar chipped-in with the early wicket of Litton Das.
Dinesh Karthik smashed last-ball six to win Nidahas Trophy for India
In the run chase, the Indian cricket team lost wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina in the power play overs, to find themselves on the back foot. But then, a 61-run stand for the third wicket between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, gave India the ascendancy in the Nidahas Trophy 2018 final. Following the dismissal of Rohit Sharma on 56 runs in 42 balls, an innings that included four fours and three sixes, the Indian batting lineup got stuck in the pursuit of the 167-run target as Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar were accumulating runs at around 100 strike-rate.
India needed 34 runs in the final two overs when Dinesh Karthik arrived at the crease, and he smashed Ruben Hossain for 22 runs in the penultimate over with two fours and two sixes. In the final over of the innings, Soumya Sarkar needed to defend 11 runs, to help Bangladesh achieve victory before having four runs in the bank on the last ball, but Dinesh Karthik hit him for a six, scoring 29 runs in just eight balls, to ensure India won the Nidahas Trophy 2018.
