Prolific opener Rohit Sharma smashed a brilliant half-century before Ashish Nehra displayed a sizzling swing bowling to help India register a comfortable 45-run win over hosts Bangladesh in the opening match of the Asia Cup T20 here at Shere Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday.
Put in to bat first, India relied on Sharma (83 off 55) and all-rounder Hardik Pandya's brisk 18-ball 31 to post a challenging 167-run target for the hosts on a lush green pitch.
In reply, Bangladesh failed to recover from the early blows and couldn't keep up with the hovering run-rate as they made only 121 for seven in their stipulated 20 overs.
For the hosts, Sabbir Rahman was the top scorer with 44 as other batsmen failed to provide able support to him.
Sharma, who was adjudged as the Player of the Match, helped India recover from a shaky start and kept on accelerating the innings with Suresh Raina (13) and Yuvraj Singh (15) giving some support to the opener.
Fast bowler Nehra, who finished with figures of 3-23, spearheaded the bowling attack as he produced a perfect blend of pace and swing to expose the hosts batting vulnerabilities.
He received able support from young pacer Jasprit Bumrah, Pandya and premium spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who shared three wickets among themselves.
India will next take on arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday at the same venue.
