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Bangladesh went into their Asia Cup opener with two inexperienced openers against co-hosts and defending champions Sri Lanka. In the absence of Tamim Iqbal and Litton Das, Mohammad Naim, and 22-year-old Tanzid Hasan opened the innings after Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat first. Tanzid who made his ODI debut failed to make a mark and got out for a two-ball duck. As he walked back to the dressing room without troubling the scorers, the youngster entered an unwanted list of Bangladesh ODI openers.
Tanzid became the fourth Bangladesh opener to get out for a duck on debut. In 1986, Nurul Abedin got out for a duck against Pakistan on debut. Harunur Rashid became the second Bangladesh opener to achieve the feat against India in 1988. Four years later, Rafiqul Islam got out for a duck against South Africa.
Earlier this month, Tanzid was picked for the Asia Cup squad following Iqbal's injury. He was picked on the basis of his performances in ACC Men's Emerging Cup 2023. Against India A, he scored 51 in the unsuccessful run chase as well.
Hasan faced his first delivery of international cricket in the second over as Naim faced the entire over bowled by Kasun Rajitha. He could not get the bat on the ball on the first delivery bowled by Maheesh Theekshana. Next ball, Tanzid went on the back foot but missed the ball completely. The ball hit the back leg and he got out lbw.
Despite walking on fire as a part of ‘mind-training’ before the Asia Cup, Naim could not live up to expectations either. He departed after scoring 16 runs from 23 balls. He played an unnecessary shot and got caught by point fielder Pathum Nissanka off Dhananjaya de Silva's bowling.
Apart from Najmul Hossain Shanto, no Bangladesh batter could make a mark. Shanto anchored the innings and scored 89 runs from 122 balls including seven fours. He got bowled by Theekshana in the 42nd over. After his wicket, Bangladesh tailenders could only add three runs on the board as they got all out for 164 from 42.4 overs.
Hossain's 89-run knock is the second-highest score for a Bangladesh batter in Sri Lanka in Asia Cup. On the other hand, Matheesha Pathirana became the youngest Sri Lankan bowler to take a four-fer in ODIs breaking Chaminda Vaas' record.
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