Picture : Twitter/ ICC
India lost a nail-bitter match in the first ODI of the three-match series against Bangladesh by one wicket being played here at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka to take a 1-0 lead in the three match ODI series.
India lost their first One Day International against Bangladesh after seven years which came in the year 2015.
Defending a modest 187-run target, India need early wickets and Deepak Chahar did exactly that dismissing opener Najmul Hossain Shanto in the very first ball of the match.
Chahar along with other pacers bowled a tight line and that did not allow Bangladesh batters to score runs freely and which resulted in Anamul Haque’s wicket who became Mohammed Siraj’s victim.
They desperately needed a partnership and captain Litton Das and star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan did exactly that. The duo took Bangladesh’s team total beyond the 50-run mark in 14.5 overs.
Washington Sundar then broke the 48-run partnership between the two dismissing skipper Litton Das for 41 off 63 balls. Next Shakib Al Hasan became his victim as he dismissed him for 29 leaving Bangladesh in a spot of bother at 95/4.
Wicket-keeper batter Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah then somehow took Bangladesh’s total to the triple-figure mark.
The 33-run partnership between the two was broken by Shardul Thakur who dismissed Mahmudullah’s leg-before wicket for 14. In the very next ball of the next over Rahim was dismissed by Siraj for 18 to leave Bangladesh tottering at 128/6.
Debutant Kuldeep Sen who was expensive in his first spell got his first ODI scalp in the form of Afif Hossain for 6. Three balls later Sen struck again dismissing Ebadot Hossain for a duck as he was out and hit a wicket to leave Bangladesh in trouble for 135/8.
In the next over Siraj struck for the third time dismissing Hasan Mahmud for a duck to make the matters worse for the host at 136/9. The moment it seemed that India will run away with the match the turnaround happened.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz along with Mustafizur Rahman batted cautiously to take the team’s total beyond the 150-run mark in 40.4 overs.
After that Miraz took control and started hitting boundaries and sixes to take Bangladesh to an improbable win and in the process struck an unbeaten 50-run partnership. Miraz played a brilliant knock of 38 off 39 balls remaining not out right till the end hitting four boundaries and two sixes while Mustafizur Rahman remained unbeaten on 10.
Bangladesh’s 10th wicket pair of Mehidy Hasan Miraj and Mustafizur Rahaman scripted an unbelievable turnaround with a 51-run stand that saw the hosts surpass a target of 187 in 46 overs.
Earlier in the day put to bat first by Bangladesh, spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz gave the hosts their first breakthrough by dismissing opener Shikhar Dhawan for just 7 off 17 balls. In an attempt to reverse sweep the ball, Dhawan’s wrist was hit by the ball and it ricocheted into the stumps. India was 23/1.
Skipper Rohit Sharma looked in good touch and was joined by Virat Kohli. The duo were playing their first ODI since July. At the end of 10 overs, India was at 48/1, with Rohit (27*) and Virat (9*).
In the next over, however, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan swung things in favour of the hosts, castling Rohit for 27 off 31 balls and sending back Virat for just nine off 15 balls, with skipper Litton Das taking a stunner of a catch at extra cover. At 49/3, Men in Blue were in a spot of bother.
The fresh pair of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul took the innings forward. The duo was careful in their approach, relying mainly on strike rotation. Medium pacer Ebadot Hossain broke the stand at 43 runs, dismissing KL Rahul continued going, with all-rounder Washington Sundar at the other end. India reached the 100-run mark in 22.5 overs. in-form Iyer for 24 off 39 balls.
KL relieved some pressure from batters, smashing Miraz for four and six in the 30th over, bringing up a 50-run stand in 60 balls.
Rahul brought up his 11th ODI fifty in 49 balls with a stylish drive past point.
Shakib continued his golden run in the match, dismissing Sundar (19), Shardul Thakur (2) and Deepak Chahar (0) in quick succession to complete his five-wicket haul. Ebadot got Shahbaz Ahmed for zero.
India sunk to 156/8 in 34.4 overs. Ebadot got his third wicket of the match and he ended Rahul’s resistance at the crease. The batter scored 73 off 70 balls with five fours and four sixes. India was 179/9 and on the course of being bundled out before touching 200.
Ebadot hit the final blow, sending back Siraj for nine. India was bundled out for just 186 runs.
Shakib was the pick of the bowlers with 5/36, Ebadot also took 4/47.
While the last wicket pair pulled off a heist after being 136 for 9 in the 40th over, India Skipper Rohit Sharma speaking post- match said he didn’t run away from the core problem and that is inept batting.
“It wasn’t enough runs. Another 30-40 runs would have made a difference. With KL and Washy, we could have got there. Unfortunately, we lost wickets in the middle, and it is not easy to make a come back,” the Indian captain said.
