India 174 for 5 (Iyer 62, Rahul 52, Sarkar 2-29, Shafiul 2-32) beat Bangladesh 144 (Naim 81, Chahar 6-7, Dube 3-30) by 30 runs
Deepak Chahar's world-record six-wicket haul, which included a hat-trick, roused India to a 30-run against Bangladesh to clinch the T20I series in Nagpur on Sunday.
Chahar's 6 for 7 are the best-ever T20I figures, beating Ajantha Mendis' 6 for 8 against Zimbabwe in 2012. The paceman also became the first Indian to get a T20I hat-trick when he removed Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Aminul Islam across his last two overs to close off the Bangladesh innings. The visitors were in the game till the 12th over of the 175-run chase as Mohammad Naim dominated the Indian attack. When he fell for 81 off 48 balls to Shivam Dube, who proved his bowling credentials with a three-for, Bangladesh's chase fell apart.
India's double trouble, thrice
Chahar, who had removed Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar off successive deliveries in the third over, broke the dangerous third-wicket stand when he had Mohammad Mithun caught at wide long-off. Next ball, Dube bowled Mushfiqur Rahim off the inside edge as Bangladesh's impressive recovery suffered a major jolt. Then, in his next over, Dube slipped a yorker past Naim before dismissing Afif Hossain caught and bowled with a steep short ball. This was when Chahar roared back to complete the formalities.
Naim impresses with his explosive batting
It wasn't all plain sailing for India. After Chahar had reduced Bangladesh to 18 for 2, young Naim took on and took apart the bowling. He slugged Yuzvendra Chahal for three fours in a row and then scythed two fours off Dube in the following over. With the legspinner and medium pacer taken to the cleaners, he then attacked Washington Sundar's offspin to keep Bangladesh on track. Washington was hammered for 17 in an over as Bangladesh were superbly placed at 106 for 2 in 12 overs. Once he was dismissed in the 16th over, though, the chase fell apart.
Shafiul's big blows at the top
Shafiul removed Rohit Sharma for the second time in the series, this time off his third ball, to briefly set India back. He was rewarded for his fuller length after that when Shikhar Dhawan top-edged him on the charge to wide mid-on for Mahmudullah to take a fine running catch. With India on 35 for 2 in the sixth over with two of their best batsmen gone, Bangladesh may have felt a lot of their job was done.
Iyer and Rahul take charge
But KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer clearly had other ideas, putting together a swift 59-run stand. While Rahul was watchful to begin with, he decided to take on the bowling in the second half of the innings, muscling big hits from time to time, ensuring India's run rate didn't dip. Soon after getting past fifty, though, he was out when he mistimed a lofted hit to mid-off.
Iyer, meanwhile, was dropped first ball by Aminul Islam, and made Bangladesh pay by getting to his maiden T20I half-century in quick time. Along the way, he showed why he could be an ideal No. 4 for India in white-ball cricket, muscling some monstrous hits to sustain India's momentum even after Rahul's dismissal. This helped India finish with a flourish and give their bowlers a platform to defend a decent total with some heavy dew around.
