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.
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.
Indian cricketer and pundit Dinesh Karthik was surprised by some of the fielding decisions and voiced his frustration after the Men in Blue lost a close contest, which they had in the bag. Karthik cited the two errors in the field, both of which happened in the same over (43rd). KL Rahul dropped a dolly while Washington Sundar's lack of awareness also cost India.
"Obviously KL Rahul's drop towards the end and Sundar not coming, don't know why he didn't come in. I don't know if it was because of the lights, which I wouldn't know, but if he had seen the ball, he should have gone for it. That's only a question he can answer. Overall fielding effort was 50-50. Not the best day, but not the worst day either. I guess in the end, with the pressure, we left some boundaries as well," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
India will look to bounce back and level the series in the second ODI on December 07 (Wednesday).
