With Mehidy Hasan’s unbeaten 38-run knock, Bangladesh started the three-match ODI series with a thrilling one-wicket win over India on Sunday at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka. Hasan has been the star of the evening as he helped Bangladesh chase the 187-run target with one wicket and four overs in hand. In the 40th over, Bangladesh was reduced to 136/9 and victory looked out of sight for the side. Then Hasan took charge of the game and finished off the things in the final delivery of the 46th over.
Asked to bat first, India had a horrible outing with the bat, losing the top three batters cheaply. Skipper Rohit Sharma has got only 27 runs off 31 balls. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli fell cheaply for 7 and 9 respectively.
It was Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul steadied the ship to help India recover from the risky start. A good partnership was inevitable in the 11th over losing 3 wickets, but Iyer (24/39) was dismissed by Ebadot Hossain in the 19th over when India was on 152/5.
Rahul continued to bat through and allow India to post a respectable total by scoring 73 runs. No one else had given much and Rahul’s dismissal meant India was unable to cross the 200-run mark. Without playing 50 overs, Men in Blue were bundled out in 186 runs.
Bangladesh made terrific use of their home conditions, exhibiting a strong bowling performance. The veteran Shakib Al Hasan got 5 wickets in the match and he bundled out the big guns Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli earlier in the game. Shakib starred with the ball, picking up his 4th five-wicket haul in ODIs.
Ebadot Hossain was also a huge support to the side, grabbing 4 wickets.
Chasing a low total, Bangladesh were off to a cautious start. But they lose Najmul Hossain Shanto in the first ball itself by Deepak Chahar. Then Litton Das and Anamul Haque tried to build a partnership and did well to not lose more wickets. But Haque has left the ground in 9.1 overs with a total of 14 runs.
Then Shakib Al Hasan joined Das to take the game deep. But both were dismissed by Washington Sundar. But Das was the highest run scorer of the side with 41 runs off 63 balls.
Later, an experienced pair of Mahmadullah and Mushfiqur Rahim took charge of the game, but both were dismissed on consecutive deliveries. Bangladesh was in a spot of bother when Mehidy Hasan took the charge forward.
Hasan has become the hero of the side with his outstanding knock of 38 off 39 balls. Bangladesh snatched victory from the jaw of defeat by Mehidy Hasan with the support of Mustafizur Rahman.
It was really tough for Indian bowlers to defend a score below 200. But the pacer Mohammed Siraj’s 3 wicket haul had almost got India a miracle win. Kuldeep Sen and Washington Sundar have got 2 wickets each while Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur have got one wicket each. But the sensational 10th wicket partnership led Bangladesh to win the match.
Team India decided to hand over the wicket-keeping once again to KL Rahul for the 3-match ODI series on the eve of the first ODI. For not playing a regular wicket-keeper, Men in Blue paid the price as Rahul dropped an easy catch of Hasan in the 43rd over while attempting a high-risk shot of Shardul Thakur.
The wicket of Hasan could have ensured victory for India rather than a one-wicket defeat.
The disciplined bowling from the Indian side reduced Bangladesh to 136 for 9 in the 40th over. But a couple of dropped catches and fielding lapses helped Mehidy Hasan and the team garb the win.
Hence, Bangladesh secured a 1-0 lead in the series, beating India for the sixth time in ODIs.
