Reddy stars as India crush Bangladesh to clinch T20 series

Rookie all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy shined with both bat and ball as India defeated Bangladesh by 86 runs in the second T20 international on Wednesday, sealing the series win.

Reddy hit 74 runs, smashing four fours and seven sixes, and built a crucial 108-run partnership with Rinku Singh, who made 53. This helped India reach a total of 221-9 at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi.

India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, restricted Bangladesh to 135-9 in their 20 overs, taking a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Mahmudullah Riyad, who had announced his retirement from T20 internationals after this series, top-scored for Bangladesh with 41 runs, including three sixes. The 38-year-old played his 140th T20 international match.

For India, spinner Varun Chakravarthy and Reddy, who was playing his second match after debuting in the first game, both took two wickets.

Bangladesh won the toss and chose to field first, reducing India to 41-3 in the first six overs. But Reddy and Rinku fought back with a strong partnership. Reddy reached his half-century in 27 balls and hit three sixes and a four off Mehidy Hasan Miraz before being caught out in the next over by Mustafizur Rahman.

Rinku kept the momentum going, hitting two fours and a six to reach his fifty in 26 balls but was dismissed by Taskin Ahmed soon after. Hardik Pandya added a quick 32 off 19 balls before getting out to leg-spinner Rishad Hossain, who finished with three wickets.

Bangladesh started strong, scoring 14 runs in the first over, but quickly lost wickets, slipping to 46-4 in 6.5 overs. Spinners Washington Sundar and Chakravarthy took key wickets, including skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das, and Bangladesh couldn’t recover despite Mahmudullah’s efforts.

Reddy also took Mahmudullah’s wicket and ended with impressive bowling figures of 2-23 in his four overs.

The third and final match will be played on Saturday in Hyderabad.