Mehidy Hasan Miraj and Mustafizur Rahaman, the last wicket pair for Bangladesh, pulled off an absolute heist with a thrilling 51-run stand as India choked during the final half hour of the opening one-day international match in Mirpur on Sunday. As a result, India lost the match by one wicket, despite scoring a low number of runs.
While India produced yet another terrible batting performance, which saw them get all-out for 186 in 41.2 overs, the bowlers performed an excellent job of reducing Bangladesh to 136 for 9 in the 40th over. This occurred while India’s batting performance was at an all-time low.
However, KL Rahul, who was given the responsibility of keeping in order to make room for him and another veteran, Shikhar Dhawan, in the same XI, lost an easy catch in the air when Bangladesh was still in need of 32 runs.
Miraj (38 not out off 39 balls) and Mustafizur (10 not out) got the squad across the finish line in exactly 46 overs. Washington Sundar also did not go for an easy catch at third man, which earned the anger of the team’s captain, Rohit Sharma.
It was Bangladesh’s highest 10th wicket partnership and the fourth-highest 10th wicket partnership in the history of successful run chases in one-day internationals when Miraj and Mustafizur put on 51 runs together.
On a pitch that provided assistance to both seamers and spinners, the top-order of the Indian team, with the exception of KL Rahul (73 runs off 70 balls), performed poorly and were bowled out for a total lower than 200.
However, because to the heroic efforts of Mohammed Siraj (3/32), Shardul Thakur (1/21), and Washington Sundar (2/17), the total that appeared to be easily attainable at the break became a large one.
Debutant Kuldeep Sen’s (2/37) pace was used to hit him for three sixes, two of which occurred during the slog overs. Deepak Chahar’s (1/32) pace looked pedestrian towards the end when there was no nip in the air, despite the fact that he provided a first-ball breakthrough.
In the end, Miraj was able to ensure that the home team did not suffer a loss in a match that they should have won just based on their bowling performance.
Earlier, Rahul scored 73 runs off of 70 balls on a day when the other batsmen had trouble getting going and when the team had a large number of players who could play many positions. Rahul made five fours and four sixes during his innings.
India’s innings lasted for a total of 41.2 overs, and left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan was responsible for the majority of the damage he caused (5/36).
After the Bangladeshi team made the decision to bowl first, Mustafizur Rahman bowled a wicketless first over, and then Rohit Sharma, the captain of the India team, opened the visitors’ boundary count by smashing Hasan Mahmud through the space between point and cover.
After going down the ground, Shikhar Dhawan grabbed his first boundary by hitting the ball over cover.
Litton Das, the captain of Bangladesh’s cricket team, made an early bowling change by bringing in off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz into the attack in the fourth over. Mehidy Hasan Miraz got off to a good start before dismissing Dhawan for seven runs.
The opener attempted a reverse sweep, but the ball bounced a little bit higher than usual and made contact with his wrist before continuing on to hit the stumps.
After the medium pacer drifted the ball on his pads, Rohit pushed it over deep square leg to strike the opening six of the series. Mahmud was the bowler who delivered the ball.
When batting against Miraz, the captain of India used the sweep shot, which allowed him to once again reach the deep square leg zone but this time for a boundary.
After that, Rohit went for the off-side, and he scored a boundary by cutting Mahmud along the ground. He had been given plenty of breadth to work with.
After that, it was Virat Kohli’s chance to target the deep square leg region, and the former skipper swept Miraz for a four during his at-bat.
Again, Litton was immediately rewarded after making another bowling change by calling in the experienced Shakib, and this time it was because of a magnificent delivery by the ace all-rounder.
After getting his innings started, Rohit aimed for the turn but the ball didn’t take it and instead sailed past the inside edge before troubling the middle and leg stumps. Rohit scored 27 runs off of 31 balls.
Two balls later, the left-arm spinner sent back Kohli (9) after Litton pulled off an incredible catch at cover after diving the full length to his right, leaving Kohli stunned and the crowd at the Shere Bangla National Stadium ecstatic. There was more joy in store for the hosts as, two balls later, the left-arm spinner sent back Kohli (9) after Litton pulled off an incredible catch at cover after diving the full length to his right.
India required a partnership with the score at 49 for three in the 11th over. KL Rahul joined Shreyas Iyer, who was 24 at the time, in the middle, but Iyer was dismissed by Ebadot Hossain (4/47), who was rewarded for bowling according to a strategy that is most effective against Iyer — short-pitched stuffs.