India seal final berth; knock Sri Lanka out

India sealed a spot in the Asia Cup final with a convincing 41-run win over Bangladesh. They also knocked Sri Lanka out of the race in the process. Powered by Abshishek Sharma's 37-ball 75, India got off to a tearaway start but Bangladesh managed to silence India's batters thereafter to restrict them to 168/6. The challenge posed by India's spinners, however, proved too tough to handle for Bangladesh, who were bundled out for just 127.

Where was the game won?

In the PowerPlay. Or between overs four and six to be more precise. India were scoring at less than a run-a-ball in the first three overs before ripping the shackles off and going absolutely berserk. The 17 runs they managed off the first three overs stood in stark contrast to the 55 they managed in the next three - thanks largely to Abhishek Sharma's clean and captivating ball-striking. Bangladesh, in comparison, could only manage a modest start.

India

PowerPlay - Slow start, stunning acceleration

Phase score: 72/0 [RR: 12.00, 4s/6s: 6/4]

The surface offered pace and swing for Bangladesh and India were relatively slow to get underway. As Shubman Gill attempted to get a measure of the surface, he played and missed a couple of deliveries and got lucky after chipping a delivery through the gap in the covers in the first over. Abhishek too mistimed a few deliveries in the following over, including the boundary he sliced over backward point while aiming to go down the ground. Tanzid Hasan returned to bowl an excellent follow-up over where he even produced an edge from Abhishek only for the keeper to put down a tough chance diving to his left.

India's acceleration started in the fourth over and it triggered a sudden shift in momentum. Gill struck a four and a six - both down the ground before Abhishek polished the Nasum Ahmed over off with another maximum over long-on. Abhishek launched two more sixes in the following over before smacking four pristine boundaries in the final over of the PowerPlay. That meant India posted a strong 72/0 in the PowerPlay with 55 of those runs coming in the latter half.

Middle overs - Bangladesh roar back into the contest

Phase score: 60/5 [RR: 6.66, 4s/6s: 2/3]

Bangladesh's respite came early after the PowerPlay as Gill holed out to long-off in the seventh over. Shivam Dube, who survived an early run-out scare after being promoted, did not last long either as he fell in the ninth over. Abhishek marched on though and notched up fifty off just 25 balls. Looking his fluent best, Abhishek's innings was cruelly cut short after he was run-out in the 12th over. A brilliant stop by Rishad Hossain at backward point caught Abhishek halfway down the pitch and then short at the non-striker's end. Suryakumar Yadav too was then strangled down leg in the same over as Bangladesh clawed back. India suffered another setback when Tilak Verma fell in the 15th over and their slowdown was drastic.

Death overs - India denied big finish

Phase score: 36/1 [RR: 7.20, 4s/6s: 4/0]

After staging an excellent comeback, Bangladesh managed to hold on to their advantage in the death overs. Nasum bowled a tight 16th over where he conceded just three runs and he was backed up by Mustafizur Rahman who conceded just six in the following over. Tanzim Hasan Sakib though couldn't quite sustain the same discipline as Hardik Pandya managed to crack a couple of boundaries. That 14-run over didn't quite trigger the momentum-shift that India would've hoped for. Mustafizur bowled a tight 19th over before Mohammad Saifuddin conceded just four off the final over to restrict India to 168/6.

Bangladesh

PowerPlay - Bangladesh off to a modest start

Phase score: 44/1 [RR: 7.33, 4s/6s: 5/1]

In response, India's bowlers started superbly with the new ball too. Both Hardik and Jasprit Bumrah found swing to trouble the Bangladeshi batters. Saif Hassan started off with a streaky boundary through third man but found his groove later in the same over when he smacked a boundary down the ground. India were then unable to overturn an LBW against Pravez Hossain Emon in the following over. Bangladesh managed to accelerate in the fifth and sixth overs, scoring 13 and nine respectively.

Middle overs - Indian spinners dominate

Phase score: 64/4 [RR: 7.11, 4s/6s: 0/5]

The Indian spinners were quick to apply the squeeze in the middle overs. It started with Parvez Hossain falling early in the sixth over and the runs just dried up for Bangladesh. Under mounting scoreboard pressure, Towhid Hridoy was the next to perish attempting a slog sweep off Axar Patel. Varun Chakaravarthy then bowled Shamim Hossain before Jaker Ali was run-out in the 13th over, leaving Bangladesh in a spot of bother at 87/5. Saif Hassan, who watched all of this from the other end, kept Bangladesh's fight alive. He brought up fifty with a six and struck another two balls later as Bangladesh scored 15 runs off the 14th over.

Death overs - Bangladesh fall in a heap

Phase score: 19/5 [RR: 4.22, 4s/6s: 1/0]

The 16th over, bowled by Varun, was an eventful one. Saif was dropped while Saifuddin fell in the interim. Kuldeep Yadav then dismissed Rishad Hossain and Tanzim Sakib off successive deliveries before Saif was handed yet another reprieve - his fourth of the innings. His innings was finally brought to an end in the following over though as he was caught brilliantly by Axar on the long-on fence. Nine wickets down and the asking rate well out of reach, the rest of the innings was a mere formality with Varma ending Bangladesh's innings in the final over by dismissing Mustafizur.

What's next for these teams?

Bangladesh have little time to recover and reboot. They face Pakistan in what's effectively a virtual semi-final in less than 24 hours. With this win, India have booked a place in the final and their last Super 4s game against Sri Lanka is set to be a dead rubber.

Brief Scores: India 168/6 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 75, Hardik Pandya 38; Rishad Hossain 2-27) beat Bangladesh 127 all-out in 19.3 overs (Saif Hassan 69, Parvez Hossain Emon 21; Kuldeep Yadav 3-18, Jasprit Bumrah 2-18) by 41 runs.