Earlier, after being put into bat, India posted a healthy 174/5, on the back of half-centuries from Iyer and Rahul. It was a maiden T20 half-century for Iyer and the sixth one for Rahul. The former was, however, dropped on 0. The hosts were dealt a body blow in the second over when pacer Shafiul Islam removed their skipper Rohit Sharma (2), who had made a sublime 85 in the series-levelling win in Rajkot. He tried to whip a length ball but only managed to get an inside edge on to the stumps.
Rahul joined Shikhar Dhawan (19 off 16) in the middle and with both the batsmen under pressure having not made an impact in the first two games, the situation provided them an ideal platform to deliver. However, Dhawan could not last long after hitting four boundaries, mistiming a slog to be caught in the deep by Mahmudullah. India once again could not get to a good start batting first, struggling to 41 for two in six overs. It would have been three down at that stage if Aminul Islam had not dropped a regulation catch off incoming batsman Iyer at backward point.
Rahul and Iyer gave a much needed boost to the Indian innings with a 59-run stand. Iyer, who raced to his 50 off 27 balls, ended up hammering five sixes and three boundaries. Rishabh Pant (6), who has copped a lot of criticism of late both for his batting and wicketkeeping, disappointed once again when the team needed him to provide the big hits. He struggled in his nine-ball stay and was eventually bowled after being deceived by a slower one from medium pacer Soumya Sarkar. Pandey (22 not out off 13), playing his first game of the series, came up with welcome boundaries in the death overs to take the total beyond 170.
