India's 30-run win margin over Bangladesh in the third and final T20I in Nagpur last night would make it sound like an easy win. But it was anything but easy. India skipper Rohit Sharma himself admitted later that his bowlers won the match.
One bowler, in particular—Deepak Chahar. His figures read 3.2-0-7-6 at the end of the match. And it included a hat-trick—the first one by an Indian in T20Is. It was also the best bowling performance in T20I cricket, beating Ajantha Mendis's 6/8 against Zimbabwe in 2012.
Here's a look at how Chahar dismantled a promising Bangladeshi line-up.
Over 2.4
First to go was opener Liton Das for 9. Chahar bowled a short one, which Das seemed to have pulled well towards deep mid-wicket. But Washington Sundar covered some good ground and took a well-judged catch, and even managed to do a split!
Over 2.5
Chahar bowled full and wide, tempting Soumya Sarkar to go for the expansive drive off his first ball itself. Sarkar did hit it but only as far as mid-off—the ball hit the toe-end of the bat—where Shivam Dube took an easy catch. The 27-year-old Rajasthan lad was on hat-trick but was denied by Mohammad Mithun.
Over 12.6
Chahar managed to get his man finally, and, in the process, also broke a threatening 98-run partnership. Another slower delivery from him saw Mithun (27) mistiming his shot to long-off where K.L. Rahul took a fine catch.
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Over 17.6
Shivam Dube's three strikes, including that of Mohammed Naim (81) and Mushfiqur Rahim (0), had swung the match decisively in India's favour by then. But the job had to be finished. Enter Chahar. Shafiul Islam (4) had no answer to the slow bouncer, flat-batting it to Rahul at long-on.
Over 19.1
The first ball of his next over gets him his fifth wicket, as Mustafizur Rahman (1) slashes a wide short ball straight to deep point fielder Shreyas Iyer. He became the fourth Indian to take a five-wicket haul in T20Is. But it was going to get better.
Over 19.2
Chahar was not going to be denied a hat-trick for the second time in the match. Aminul Islam could only watch as a perfect yorker rattled his off-stump, sending Chahar into a celebratory sprint. What a way to win the match for India—with the best bowling figures in T20Is!