Kohli ton steers India to 6-wicket win

Mirpur:

In-form Virat Kohli hammered his second ODI ton to script India's facile six-wicket victory over Bangladesh in a dead rubber of the ongoing tri-series here on Monday.

With India and Sri Lanka having already booked their place in Wednesday's final, Monday's match was of merely academic interest.

India first restricted the hosts to 247 for six and then chased down the target with seven overs to spare.

Dinesh Karthik (34) and Gautam Gambhir (41) gave India another brisk 64-run start before Kohli took over to complete the formality in Suresh Raina's (18) company.

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Kohli's unbeaten 95-ball 102 included 11 hits to the fence.

Batting on 94, Kohli hit back-to-back fours off Shakib Al Hasan to reach his century and score the winning runs.

Chasing a modest 248, India got just the kind of start they needed with Karthik and Gambhir finding boundaries at regular intervals.

Karthik sent the first ball of the second powerplay --Abdur Razzak was the bowler -- out of the park before perishing caught behind in the next over.

As if to take revenge, Gambhir hit Shafiul for three fours on the trot in his next over before Naeem Islam breached his gate.

Left-handed Gambhir danced down the track to hoist Naeem only to be beaten by the flight of the delivery that disturbed the stumps. Gambhir hit five fours in his 46-ball innings.

Yuvraj Singh (25-ball 13) then came in and he was trying to give his partner Kohli more strike but he failed to fend off a Naeem delivery that straightened after pitching to be out LBW and India were in a spot of bother at 133 for three in the 24th over.

The script looked like going the way of the earlier match between the two sides on January 7 when India lost the two openers and Yuvraj for Kohli and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to revive the run chase.

Kohli carried on from where he left yesterday against Sri Lanka, mixing caution with aggression as he picked gaps and ran hard for the ones and twos and scoring occasional boundaries to race to his fifty in 47 balls with the help of five fours.

Dhoni, who scored a hundred in their earlier match against the same opponents, played in the same fashion as his junior partner and as India scored at a brisk pace.

But just as India were cruising to the target, Dhoni perished in the 37th over while trying for big shot by dancing down the track although he could only offer an easy catch to Imrul Kayes at mid-on off Shakib Al Hasan.

The Indian captain, who hit three fours in his 35-ball 32, shared a 68-run stand for the fourth wicket from 75 balls with Kohli and when he was out India needed 47 runs from 13.5 overs.

Kohli and Suresh Raina (18-ball 18) then completed the formalities without any hiccup.

For Bangladesh, Naeem was the most successful bowler with figures of two for 35 while Shakib and Shafiul Islam claimed a wicket apiece.

Earlier, Bangladesh batsmen struggled against Indian bowling attack but the hosts rode on a late flourish to inch close to the 250-mark in front of 5,000-odd spectators at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Captain Shakib top-scored with a 96-ball 85 which he made with the help of eight fours and a six while in-form Mohammad Mahmadullah chipped in with an unbeaten 80-ball 64.

The duo's 106-run stand from 128 balls for the sixth wicket was the cornerstone of the Bangladesh innings which was tottering at 95 for five in the 24th over.

Shakib, who came in the 14th over when his side was three down for 60, kept one end together till the 46th over when he was out while trying to play a scoop shot off Ashish Nehra only to mistime it as the ball landed into the gloves of Dhoni.

Nehra, who came in for Zaheer Khan today, was the most successful Indian bowler with two wickets though he was a tad expensive, conceding 58 runs from his 10 overs.

India bled 95 runs in the last 10 overs but later tightened the noose to restrict Bangladesh to 247 for six.

Part-timer Yuvraj Singh (1/33), Sudeep Tyagi (1/24) and S Sreesanth (1/53) also chipped in with good performance for India.