India win series 2-1 despite Naim's 81

India defeated Bangladesh in the third and final Twenty20 International at Nagpur to win the series 2-1.

It was a match that swung back and forth and the Tigers created moments where they were in good positions, but India clawed back each time to win by 30 runs.

The batting of opener Mohammad Naim was a big positive for the Tigers as he scored 81 runs from 48 balls to give his team a big chance of winning the match.

Naim had ten boundaries and two maximums and he was exceptional at pacing his innings.

But the other batsmen failed to hold their nerve in key moments and lost wickets in clusters to eventually end up on the losing side.

The start was a disastrous one for Bangladesh as they lost the wickets of Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar in back-to-back deliveries during the second over by Deepak Chahar.

Then came the fightback from the Tigers as Mohammad Naim and Mohammad Mithun counter-attacked.

Naim initially took his time but then started to take the attack to the Indian bowling, and it started from the sixth over off the bowling of Chahal.

Mithun was the more subdued partner but held his end up as Naim reached his half-century.

The runs continued to come at a fast rate as Bangladesh brought up the team hundred and captain Rohit Sharma started to run out of ideas. 

With 69 required from 48 balls and eight wickets in hand, a win for Bangladesh seemed on the cards, but India went back to the bowler that took the earlier wickets, Chahar, and he brought the wicket of Mohammad Mithun.

That brought in Mushfiqur Rahim, but he lasted just one delivery, inside-edging the ball to see it hit the stumps and Shivam Dube had his first wicket.

With the required run-rate once again exceeding 10, Dube took two key wickets - that of set batsman Naim, and Afif Hossain - in back-to-back balls.

The final nail in the coffin was struck when Mahmudullah was dismissed for eight runs, bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal.   

Earlier, India were buoyed by half-centuries from KL Rahul and Sreyash Iyer and as a result posted a total that was not imaginable when they lost Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in the powerplay overs.

Bangladesh won the toss as captain Mahmudullah Riyad decided to bowl first, and that paid off initially with Shafiul Islam and Al-Amin Hossain bowling brilliantly in the beginning. 

The runs were initially kept under check by the Tigers but Aminul Islam Biplop dropped Iyer at point when Iyer was yet to score a run.

That proved to be a pivotal moment as Iyer took full toll on the bowling attack and top-scored with 62-runs off just 33 balls. 

The 16th over was especially a big turning point as Afif Hossain came into the attack and was dispatched by Iyer for three-straight sixes.

That helped India post a big total, which, at one point seemed like a 140-150 score on a pitch that was gripping.