Indian bowlers showed some spirited display and hunted in packs in an attempt to defend a low total but it wasn’t enough to beat Bangladesh in the first match of three-ODI series at Shere Bangla National Stadium. From 136/9, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (39) with support from no.11 batter Mustafizur Rahman, played an innings of a lifetime to stun Rohit Sharma’s India with a one-wicket win.
In the run chase of 186, Deepak Chahar got Indian fielders tails up with the wicket of opener Najmul Hossain Shanto as he struck off the first ball of the innings. Shanto poked at the delivery outside off and Rohit completed an easy catch at first slip. In the powerplay overs, skipper Litton and Anamul Haque could not score freely. The constant pressure paid off and Haque got out in the 10th over. He scored 14 runs from 29 deliveries.
Das was joined by experienced campaigner Shakib in the middle. At one point they looked comfortable in the middle but Sundar managed to force an edge off his bat. Das tried to work the ball towards leg side but a faint edge landed in KL Rahul's gloves.
Shakib looked in good form as well and hit Shahbaz Ahmed for two consecutive fours in the 23rd over. Sundar struck again as he lured Shakib into a drive he had no control over. Virat Kohli took an acrobatic catch at covers to get rid of the southpaw. Shakib scored 29 runs from 38 deliveries including three boundaries.
After 95/4, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah struggled to rotate the strike easily. In their partnership, they could not score a single boundary. Even when the required run rate looked under control, the experienced duo erred and Siraj caused a collapse with the old ball. Siraj got the wicket of Rahim whereas Thakur trapped Mahmudullah in front of the stumps. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 18 runs from 45 deliveries whereas Mahmudullah contributed with a 35-ball 14.
Debutant Kuldeep Sen came back into the attack and got the wicket of Afif Hossain (6) whereas Ebadot Hossain got out hit wicket. Siraj struck again to trap Hasan Mahmud (0) before the stumps.
With 136/9 and 51 more runs needed from 63 deliveries, Mehidy did some damage as he hit two sixes off Sen to revive the run chase. Earlier, a boundary off Mustafizur’s bat came that ended a 102-delivery drought. Mehidy and Mustafizur frustrated Indian bowlers and Rahul dropping a sitter did not help visitors' cause either. After a spirited bowling effort, Indian pacers erred as the unbeaten 10th-wicket partnership got Bangladesh over the line with four overs to spare. Mehidy scored 38 runs from 39 deliveries including four fours and two sixes. On the other end, Mustafizur scored 10 runs from 11 deliveries.
Earlier, Das won the toss and opted to field first. Shikhar Dhawan (7) got out early trying to reverse sweep Mehidy. Rohit got a few boundaries during fielding restrictions but Shakib Al Hasan beat him with a delivery that held his line. Rohit scored 27 runs from 31 deliveries including four fours and one sixes. Virat Kohli's stay at the crease was short-lived as he became Shakib's second victim of the day in the same over. Kohli (9) was lured into a drive and Das took an acrobatic catch to push India on back foot.
From 49/3, Shreyas Iyer and Rahul brought the innings back on track. The partnership was growing but Ebadot exploited Shreyas' short ball weakness and got his wicket in the 20th over. Shreyas scored 24 runs from 39 deliveries. Sundar walked out to bat with the intention to stabilise the innings as well. Rahul seemed like he was batting on a different pitch and got to his fifty from 49 deliveries.
In the next over, Sundar played an unnecessary reverse sweep which was caught by Shakib. Ebadot and Shakib preyed on India's lower-middle order. As Rahul kept running out of partners, he tried to score as many runs as possible and lost his wicket in the process. He scored 73 runs from 70 deliveries including five fours and four sixes. India got all out for 186 in 41.2 overs. Shakib took 5/36, the best bowling figures by a left-arm spinner against India in ODIs whereas Ebadot registered 4/47.
