LIVE: India win Nidahas Trophy because of Karthik's 8 ball 28

India wins the toss and opts to field in the final

live scorecard, India vs Bangladesh, final, Colombo

What a game! What an innings it was from Dinesh Karthik. India looked down and out till the moment he walked in and boy, has he played an innings of a lifetime or what. But spare a thought for Soumya Sarkar. He is inconsolable and down on his knee there. The entire Bangladesh unit goes to him to lift him up. Poor lad. Wonder if he was ever prepared to bowl the last over in a limited-overs game.

Dinesh Karthik is the first batsman to hit a six when 5 or more runs were required to win off the final delivery in T20Is.

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) March 18, 2018

India win the Nidahas Trophy

SIX! UNBELIEVABLE STROKE, UNBELIEVABLE RESULT! INDIA WIN! This is bowled full outside off, Karthik moves a bit to the off side and smashes it over extra covers. Has made a meaty enough contact for the ball to sail all the way over the fence to send the crowd in a frenzy!

Karthik scores 22 off 6

SIX! Four! SIX! Dot! Two! Four - Dinesh Karthik lights up Colombo, gives the final another HUGE twist. Takes off Rubel Hossein to take India into the driver's seat now. Boy, we need a moment to breathe. What a final this is turning out to be. India need 12 off the last over and it will be bowled by Soumya Sarkar.

Pandey goes, Mustafizur turns the match

Simply outstanding from Mustafizur, what an over. Ends it with the all important wicket of Manish Pandey. But before that, he had bowled four dot balls to Vijay Shankar, who has come out to bat for the first time for India - all this in the 18th over of the match. This over has taken Bangladesh to brink of lifiting the Nidahas Trophy. 

Huge wicket! Rohit falls for 56

Massive, massive wicket for Bangladesh, this! Loopy delivery around middle and leg, Rohit kneels down and looks to go big. Ends up offering a skier for Mahmudllah at long on, who accepts it calmly. Perhaps Pandey's struggles put extra pressure on Rohit to take that extra chance. This is Nazmul's first wicket in the series and what a one it is. 69 off 40 needed.

14th fifty for Rohit

14th T20I fifty for @ImRo45, he gets there in just 35 balls. India 86/3 https://t.co/EIzT5gJ6gu pic.twitter.com/2BBHh8lenJ

— Wah Cricket (@ABPCricketHindi) March 18, 2018

Terrific over from Shakib

What an over from the Bangladesh captain, squeezed in the pressure by bowling four dot balls in a row to the new man Manish Pandey. Just when you think India is running away with the game, Bangladesh keep coming back.

Second wicket for Rubel

Top edge and out! Not the result Rahul expected while going for that adventerous pull shot. Rubel Hossain is delighted, Bangaldesh badly needed that wicket. It looked like Rahul had got all of it but he didn't, mainly because of Rubel's extra pace, Sabir makes no mistake at deep square-leg.

A milestone to cherish for the Indian captain

#NidahasTrophyFinal: Rohit Sharma gets to 7⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣ T20 runs pic.twitter.com/uSkIduZeLl

— Wah Cricket (@ABPCricketHindi) March 18, 2018

Raina goes early

A clear spike on the ultraedge, to be honest it was obvious with the naked eye too, no wonder keeper Mushfiqur Rahim was astonished to see the umpire calling it a wide. He rightly convinces Shakib to go for the review and it's a successful one. A sliding delivery down the leg side, Raina goes for the pull shot and gets a faint tickle to the keeper. Bangladesh have come back strongly after Rohit's attacking beginning.

Dhawan perishes

A classic of case of getting carried away by seeing your partner going hammer and tongs at the other end. Shikhar Dhawan holes out at short cover, good diving catch by the substitue fielder. He tried to lift it over mid-off but gets a leading edge and Shakib is elated. India lose their first wicket for 32.

SIX! FOUR! SIX!

Boy Rohit means business here, takes apart Mehdi Hasan in his very first over. Shakib's ploy of starting off with two spinners has completely backfired because of Rohit Sharma,who has decided to launch into an all out attack. 17 runs coming from the second over of the match. India have started their off on a positive note.

The formidable Indian opening pair have made their way into the middle, they have a job on their hand. A solid start would take them one step close to lifitng the Nidahas Trophy.

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56 runs off the last 5 overs! Even though they kept losing wickets, these figures should help them a great deal. Riding on Sabbir Rahman's sensible innings coupled with some useful cameos from Mahmudullah and Mehidy Hasan, they have succeeded in posting a total that, if not a winning one, is at least a challenging one. Interestingly, at one stage it looked as if they wouldn't even last their quota of overs.

Stunning finish for Bangladesh

Four! Six! Four! 18 off the last over from Shardul Thakur, another forgetable night for the seamer. He ends up with expensive figures of 0/45 and Bangladesh have managed to put up 166 for 8.

Double strike for Unadkat

Another slower, the result the same. Bangladesh innings is nosediving here. That was way too good for Rubel, who again attempts a slog, swings his bat too early and the ball crashes onto his stumps. It is turning out to be a terrific over for Unadkat and India, could well make a difference of 10-15 runs. 

Sabbir falls for 77

BOWLED! Jaydev Unadkat, who had been off colour throughout the match, returns to get the most important wicket of Sabbir Rahman. But what a knock from Bangladesh's No. 3. He single handedly ensured a fighting total for Bangladesh, goes for wild slog, loses his shape and the slower ball does its job. Sabbir deaprts for 77. 

Improvisation at its very best

Scintilating stuff from Sabbir Rahman. First a delicate dab past the short third-man fieldsman for a four followed by a lap shot over the short-fine leg fielder for the same result. The right-hander is putting on a show for the capacity crowd and not only that, his innings is ensuring a fighting total for Bangladesh.

Another run out

Just when Sabbir had put his foot on the accelerator, another run out pegs him back. This time it's the captain, Shakib Al Hasan. Unlike the previous occasion, there was not much Sabbir could have done differently here. Shakib hits it straight to the cover fielder, Sabbir calls for the single but because of the impact of the delivery, Shakib was slow to get off the blocks, even a despairing dive fails to save his wicket. Good job from Shankar, first for getting to the ball and then to collect it and dislodge the bails on time.

4th T20I fifth for Sabbir

#NidahasTrophyFinal: 4th T20I FIFTY for Sabbir Rahman. He has to carry on if Bangladesh is hoping to get anywhere near the 160-run mark. https://t.co/EIzT5gJ6gu pic.twitter.com/TpX6odYC37

— Wah Cricket (@ABPCricketHindi) March 18, 2018

Mahmudullah is run out

Terrible terrible mix up, both batsmen end up being on one end and in the end it's Mahmudullah, who sacrifices his wicket for Sabbir. Let's take it step by step. Shankar delivers a slow leg cutter on off, Mahmudullah gets deceived and is early into the flick. Seems to have gone off the pads. The ball rolls towards the right of the keeper and the Indians appeal. Rahman meanwhile comes down in search of a run. Karthik is alive to the occasion but has a shy at his end, which is a mistake. In this case, fortunately for him, he misses the stumps and Shankar dives to his right while backing it up. Mahmudullah at this point has responded positively to his partner's call but then stops in the middle. That's not all.

A small little milestone for the leggie

#NidahasTrophyFinal: With 35 wickets to his name, Yuzvendra Chahal is now the third highest wicket taker for India in T20Is, goes past Ashish Nehra's tally of 34 wickets. pic.twitter.com/yWtfqukbnF

— Wah Cricket (@ABPCricketHindi) March 18, 2018

Three for Chahal

That's all from Rahim in this series. The spinner's bait is too hard to resist and he pays the price. Chahal floats it outside off, Rahim charges down the track with some movement away. Goes with the attempted smash over covers and ends up getting it off the top edge. Shankar covers some ground in the circle to his right and takes a good diving catch. On another look, it is seen that it was the googly that Mushfiqur didn't pick.

Sabbir on the charge

A six followed by a four in the same region. Sabbir Rahman has had it enough, he has decided to take the attack to the Indians, his first target is the medium pace of Vijay Shankar.

Chahal gets two in one over

In the air and gone! Two in his first over for Chahal. Sarkar the man goes, India have got three wickets inside the powerplay. #BAN: 33/3https://t.co/EIzT5gJ6gu pic.twitter.com/qzjWdgGQ3H

— Wah Cricket (@ABPCricketHindi) March 18, 2018

Stunning catch from Shardul

What a catch! Shardul Thakur you beauty! That was a skier, probably had snow in it when it came down. Shardul at long-on, sets himslef up nicely, keeps calm under pressure and holds on to a stunning catch without touching the boundary cusions. Tamim Iqbal takes the long walk back for 15.

Sundar draws first blood

OUT! Guess who is it? Yes, it's Washington Sundar. Brilliant stuff from the young man, nothing flashy, just a normal tossed-up off-spinner, Liton Das goes for the expansive slog sweep but gets done in the flight. The top edge lands straight into Raina's lap. India get their first. Bangladesh: 27/1

N.B Jaydev Unadkat has conceeded most number of sixes in this tri-series so far.

Sanjay Manrekar: Jaydev Unadkat needs to have something up his sleeves other than the cutters and slowers. Whenever he bowls he seam up, he goes the distance. It has no pace, no seam, no movement.

Nice and steady from Bangladesh

It's 13 ater 2 overs, with only one boundary from Tamim Iqbal in it. But both the Bangladesh openers have looked assured so far. For India, Sundar started off with a tight over.

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mehidy Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Nazmul Islam.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik(w), Lokesh Rahul, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Team News: Jaydev Unadkat comes in for India in place of Mohammed Siraj. Bangladesh have gone in with the same side that played in the last game against Sri Lanka.

Shakib Al Hasan: It is not a bad things to bat first. The pitch will remain same the entire game like it has been throughout the tournament. Our nerves are in control and the players are focused.

Rohit Sharma: The track is good but the wicket looks a bit dry, hope it will get better. We will look to do good with the ball and then chase down the score.  

Toss: India wins toss and opts to field first.

Pitch report: Brett Ley says as the game goes on, the pitch might get a bit slower but it's rock hard, which means the ball will caryy through nicely. The bowlers again will again will have to rely on their variations. 180+ should be par on this surface, concludes the former Australian seamer.

Let's do this, says BCCI

Let's do this 💪💪💪 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/qTVXmtkkTo

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 18, 2018

Will India continue its dominace over in the Nidahas Trophy or will Bangladesh rise above all the controveries to let cricket do all the talking? It will all unfold today in the final ecnounter of the Nidahas Trophy, Welcome to the live coverage of what promises to be thrilling encounter between two hungry teams.

The Preview

While the second-string Indian team recorded a hat-trick of comfortable wins after their opening loss to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh reached the summit clash with a couple of dramatic wins over the hosts.

Unlike India's rivalry with Pakistan and Australia, there isn't any significant cricketing history attached to India-Bangladesh matches.

But since their 2015 World Cup quarterfinal defeat in Melbourne where they felt a few umpiring decisions went against them, the tiny nation of cricket fanatics consider India to be their biggest on-field rivals.

Ironically, then also it was a case of Rohit Sharma being caught off a waist high full toss, which was adjudged no-ball by the umpire. Bangladesh team and fans have not moved on since then.

Not to forget a crass advertisement "Mauka Mauka", which was aired before and during 2015 World Cup, something that Bangladeshi fans still consider as an insult.

During the same year, India lost an ODI series in Bangladesh and there were some objectionable photo-shopped billboards of Indian players' with heads half-shaved, put out across the streets of Dhaka.

For an average Bangladeshi fan, Indian cricket team is perceived as a big bully and the jealousy stemming from BCCI's financial clout, makes them treat every game against 'Men In Blue' as a grudge match.

Bangladeshi players' skills don't match their zeal always but there will be no inches given when the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim or Mahmudullah step onto the field.

However, in terms of sheer talent, Indian team is a cut above their Bangladeshi counterparts.

Man to man, the opening pair of Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan have scored runs across the globe even though Tamim Iqbal and Litton Das are good on their day.

Dhawan has scored close to 200 runs in the tournament while skipper Rohit is back in form after an 89 off 61 balls against the same opposition in last group league match.

No one among the 22 players have more experience compared to Suresh Raina in the shortest format as Soumya Sarkar is no match for him.

Dinesh Karthik and Mushfiqur Rahim are on even keel as far batting is concerned although the Tamil Nadu glovesman has shown composure more often in pressure cooker scenarios.

Manish Pandey may not be as experienced as Mahmudullah in international cricket but Pandey's 10 years of IPL cricket holds him in good stead.

In the bowling department, Shardul Thakur has been steady and Washington Sundar's Powerplay bowling has been India's biggest gain from this tour.

Vijay Shankar has also been impressive but unlucky at times because of the number of catches dropped off his bowling.

However, the only worry for India will be second specialist seamer. Both Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammed Siraj have proved to be expensive.

It will be interesting to see who among the two plays. It can also be that Axar Patel or Deepak Hooda used as additional spin bowling all-rounder on a slowish track.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan,, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, Jaydev Unadkat, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Lokesh Rahul, Axar Patel, Deepak Hooda and Mohammed Siraj

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (C), Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Nazmul Islam, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan, Imrul Kayes, Ariful Haque, Nurul Hasan, Abu Hider Rony and Abu Jayed.