END OF OVER:20 | 13 Runs 1 Wkt | IND: 168/6 | RR: 8.40
- Dinesh Karthik29 (8b)
- Washington Sundar0 (0b)
- Soumya Sarkar3-0-33-1
- Rubel Hossain4-0-35-2
Presentation time: And Dinesh Karthik is Man of the Match, tripping over his feet while trying to climb up the podium while Colombo screams his name. "Really happy t come out of this performance. Really happy for the team. We've played really well in this tournament and to not win the final would have been unfortunate. It was not that easy to bat there. The way Musftazur bowled... So I just had to go out there and hit the ball hard. I have been practicing keeping a good base and hitting throguh the line and luckily it came out well. The Indian team is a tough place to get an opportunity, but once you get it, you have to take it. And credit to the backroom staff, they have always supported me and I'm really happy
"You can't ask for more in a final like this. I thought we played superbly, anybody could have won the game, but India held their nerves well," says Shakib Al Hasan. "We wanted ot bowl our best bowler in the 18th and 19th. But even if Rubel had gone for 15 an over, we could have handled it. He didn't miss his length too much but credit to Dinesh Karthik to just come out and hit sixes from his first ball. We knew 166 would be tough to defend, we had a good feeling though, everyone did their best, gave their 100%. It hurts to lose, but we played well. [Mehidy only one over] It was pre-planned, who we anted ot bowl, but all of our bowlers can bowl. We can still take lots of positives from here and someday we can be on the winning side"
Washington Sundar is the Man of the Series. "It means a lot, especially such an award at such a young age. I really need to thank my family for this. It's a challenging role [bowling in Powerplay] but when playing for your countrly, it's just an honour. I've always wanted to read the batsmen's mind, and that's what I have been trying to do. I really wanted to be there when we win the game and I think Dinesh bhai played really well and it turned out to be a memorable series for me
"Brilliant game, brilliant for the crowd who have come out in numbers. The support we got here from this crowd was brilliant, it would be a bit different if we were playing Sri Lanka but I would like to thank them for their show tonight," says Rohit Sharma. "Great tournament for us. Young lads. Lot of learning. We always knew they had the talent, but it was about executing and this tournament will give them a lot of confidence. Everybody who played, they showed lots of character. These games are not easy and these guys have not played a lot for the national team. And this performance will give them a lot fo confidence. It was quite easy to lead them. A lot of work has been done of the field in terms of strategy so it was very easy for me to remind them what we spoke of in our meeting and I thought they just executed them perfectly, in the Powerplay, middle overs and the death. Some of them went for runs, but they will learn from it and today was a real platform to show what we could do. Very happy to see Dinesh doing what he did, he didn't get much game time until now, but he showed his power. We held him back because of his finishing ability and his experience. And it paid off. I always had a lot of faith in our batting group and we were confident after keeping them to a par score."
That's all we have for you from commentary. Thanks for your company, but now it's time to hightail it the heck outta here. Sayonara, from Al Muthu
10.40 pm Soumya Sarkar is buckled over. He is inconsolable. He needs his captain to lift him up off the ground. For a part-time bowler to be given the final over, to handle this kind of pressure, is a lot of work and he tackled it gamely. But Karthik is a sensational finisher in T20 cricket, he does it time and again in the IPL, and for his state side Tamil Nadu. Came in to bat after a wicket maiden - in the 18th over too - from Bangladesh's gun bowler, Mustafizur Rahman, when the match was firmly in Bangladesh's favour. Then came a breathtaking assault, sending his first three balls to the boundary and changing the game in the blink of an eye. And the final six to seal it all was the best of them, with the ball going over cover, as pristine a cricket shot as any to finish off a T20 game. India are taking a lap of honour, and while many might have predicted these scenes, they did not take the expected route getting here.
"Oh my God," says Manish Pandey. "When I fell, I knew someone had to play a blinder. But we had the belief we could do it and DK has always done it. But oh my God."
"Wicket was a bit dry, me and Washington worked that out and we just varied our pace," says Chahal. "In the powerplay, batsmen want to drive, so I just vary my pace and bowl my sliders. I bowl in the IPL, so I'm used to being attacked. Seriously, I just ate through all my nails"
"I was in to bat next," says Thakur. "But we were just holding our hands, just praying let DK hit a four or six. I think the way he's batting through the tournament, and in the nets, it was incredible. The way he started off against Rubel, we knew he would hit the target"
Ashwin: "This finish is on par with MSD's finish at the 2011 World Cup. People are going to remember this for a long time"
Rohit: "Another cracker of a T20 match between the 2 sides after the one in Bengaluru in '16. Happy to be supporting the winning side on both the times. But kudos to Ban too. They fought extremely well. The Fizz was exceptional"
Saurabh: "DK has to be man of the match here. He changed the date of the tournament in the span of 8 balls"
Sagar Vibhute : "Hitting a winning boundary when Sachin Tendulkar is on the verge of hundred at non strikers end and hitting a winning boundary in such a incredible innings...DK has truly matured and ready to took that middle order batting position in limited overs team "
Washington Sundar comes in, but Dinesh Karthik is on strike with India needing five off one ball
V Shankar c Mehidy Hasan Miraz b Soumya Sarkar 17 (19b 3x4 0x6) SR: 89.47
India need five of two
India need nine off three.
Ruchit: "Mustafiz is hard to pick for a new comer.. Shankar is no exception.. Once you get an idea he is easy to face.. But Shankar picked the wrong match !!"
India need 10 off 4 balls
END OF OVER:19 | 22 Runs | IND: 155/5 (12 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 8.15, RRR: 12.00)
- Dinesh Karthik22 (6b)
- Vijay Shankar12 (15b)
- Rubel Hossain4-0-35-2
- Mustafizur Rahman4-1-21-1
Nik: "Anyone missing Dhoni?" ---- india need 12 from six
Dinesh Karthik is the new man in. India need 34 off the last 12 balls and the next six will be bowled by Rubel Hossain
END OF OVER:18 | 1 Run 1 Wkt | IND: 133/5 (34 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 7.38, RRR: 17.00)
- Vijay Shankar12 (15b)
- Mustafizur Rahman4-1-21-1
- Soumya Sarkar2-0-20-0
MK Pandey c Sabbir Rahman b Mustafizur Rahman 28 (27b 3x4 0x6) SR: 103.70
India need 35 runs off 18 balls in the final. And it's Mustafizur again. His cutters are going to be incredibly difficult to negotiate under this much pressure. Third man and fine leg are up, which means it will all be slower balls
END OF OVER:17 | 9 Runs | IND: 132/4 (35 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.76, RRR: 11.66)
- Manish Pandey28 (26b)
- Vijay Shankar12 (10b)
- Soumya Sarkar2-0-20-0
- Mustafizur Rahman3-0-21-0