Asia Cup 2016: Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli help India thump Bangladesh to win sixth title

New Delhi: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's three classy sixes helped India outsmart Bangladesh to script a famous victory in a rain-hit match and clinch the 2016 Asia Cup Twenty20 trophy at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka on Sunday.

India accounted their third successive T20I series win, after earlier beating Australia and Sri Lanka in back to back three-match bilateral series. This Asia Cup victory was the perfect build-up for the Indians ahead of the crucial ICC World Twenty20 starting from March 8.

India rallied to an eight-wicket victory as Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli played sensibly and kept up with the tempo in chasing down the stiff target.

India lost Rohit Sharma early in the second over as Al-Amin Hossain got him nick to the slip fielder for just one run.

Dhawan played a good hand with Kohli and added 94 runs for the second wicket. That partnership made the difference for India.

Dhawan (60), lost his wicket against Taskin Ahmed, who saw the southpaw find the fielder at point. Dhawan hit nine fours and a six in his innings. India brought up their 100-run mark in the 13th over, with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni coming ahead of Suresh Raina.

Dhoni hit a six of the third ball he faced over mid-wicket. The skipper hit two more sixes in the same over and sealed the victory in an emphatic manner. Al-Amin was the bowler at the receiving end.

Virat Kohli need to be lauded for his innings and it has become a regular feature for the batsman to play these sort of match-winning innings. Kohli scored a brilliant 41 runs as India remained unbeaten in this edition.

Earlier, with rain hampering the start of the play, the match was reduced to 15 overs a side. Bangladesh managed to score 120/5 in 15 overs after Mahmudullah hit a quick 33 off 13 balls.

Mahmudullah, who struck two fours and as many sixes, put on 45 runs in an unbroken sixth-wicket stand with Sabbir Rahman. That helped Bangladesh get a move on and put up a challenging score.

Bangaldesh's best moment of the game came when Mahmudullah struck gold, as Hardik Pandya conceded 21 runs in the 14th over.

Sabbir anchored the innings with an unbeaten 32 off 29 balls and continued his fine run with the bat.

Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja bowled well in the game. Ashish Nehra was spanked for 33 runs in his three overs.