Bangladesh’s last wicket pair of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman pulled off an absolute heist with a thrilling 51-run stand as India choked during final half an hour to lose a low-scoring opening ODI by one wicket on Sunday.
While India produced yet another poor batting show which saw it get all out for 186 in 41.2 overs, the bowlers did a splendid job to reduce Bangladesh to 136 for nine in the 40th over.
However KL Rahul, who was entrusted with keeping duties to fit him and another veteran, Shikhar Dhawan, in the same XI, dropped an aerial sitter when Bangladesh still needed 32 runs.
Washington Sundar also didn’t go for an easy catch at third-man, earning the wrath of skipper Rohit Sharma as Miraz (38 not out off 39 balls) along with Mustafizur (10 not out) got the team past the finishing line in exactly 46 overs.
The 51-run stand between Miraz and Mustafizur was Bangladesh’s highest 10th wicket partnership and the fourth-highest 10th wicket partnership in a successful ODI chase.
On a track that assisted both seamers and spinners, the Indian top-order, barring Rahul (73 off 70 balls) flopped badly to be bowled out for a score below 200.
But the total that looked eminently gettable at the break turned into a sizeable one due to lion-hearted efforts from Mohammed Siraj (three for 32), Shardul Thakur (one for 21) and Washington Sundar (two for 17).
Debutant Kuldeep Sen’s (two for 37) pace was used to hit him for three sixes - two of them during the slog overs while Deepak Chahar (one for 32) despite providing a first-ball breakthrough, looked pedestrian towards the end when there was no nip in the air.
In the end, Miraz ensured that the host didn’t suffer a setback in a game which should have been won with its bowling effort alone.
Earlier, Rahul struck 73 off 70 balls on a day when the others struggled to get going and when the side was packed with all-rounders. Rahul hit five fours and four sixes.
India’s innings lasted 41.2 overs with left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan (five for 36) doing most of the damage.
Opting to field, Mustafizur Rahman started the proceedings with a maiden, before India skipper Rohit opened the visitor’s boundary count by smashing Hasan Mahmud through the gap between point and cover.
Shikhar Dhawan went down the ground and got his first boundary by sending the ball over cover.
Bangladesh skipper Litton Das effected an early bowling change, bringing in off-spinner Miraz into the attack in the fourth over, and he started on a tidy note before castling Dhawan for seven.
The opener went for the reverse-sweep but the ball bounced a bit more than usual, touched his wrist before going on to hit the stumps.
Rohit struck the first six of the series when he pulled Mahmud over deep square-leg after the medium pacer drifted the ball on his pads.
The India skipper again found the deep square-leg region but this time for a boundary as he employed the sweep shot against Miraz.
Rohit then chose the off-side, cutting Mahmud along the ground for a boundary after being given plenty of width.
It was then the turn of Virat Kohli to pick the deep square-leg region as the former captain swept Miraz for a four.
Litton made another bowling change, summoning the seasoned Shakib, and again he was instantly rewarded thanks to a brilliant delivery by the star all-rounder.
Having got a start, Rohit (27 off 31 balls) went for the turn but the ball didn’t, and instead, went past the inside edge before disturbing the middle and leg stumps.
There was more joy in store for the host as, two balls later, the left-arm spinner sent back Kohli (9) after Litton pulled off an incredible catch at cover after diving full-length to his right, leaving Kohli stunned and the crowd at the Shere Bangla National Stadium elated.
At 49 for three in the 11th over, India needed a partnership. Rahul joined Shreyas Iyer (24) in the middle but the latter was dismissed by Ebadot Hossain (four for 47), who was rewarded for bowling to a plan that works best against Iyer - short-pitched stuff.
With the small 43-run stand coming to an end, Washington Sundar (19) walked in and looked to help Rahul in building a partnership. However, the duo could add no more than 60 runs as, shortly after Rahul reached his half-century, Washington picked a fielder while trying to play the reverse-sweep against Shakib.
In the next over, Ebadot sent back Shahbaz Ahmed and Shakib then dismissed Thakur and Chahar to leave India tottering at 156 for eight.
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