Mehidy, Mustafizur stun India with unbeaten last-wicket stand in ODI series

DHAKA: Shakib Al Hasan starred with a sensational fifer while Mehidy Hasan Miraz held his nerve to slam an unbeaten cameo and guide Bangladesh to a famous one-wicket victory over India in a low-scoring thriller of the ODI series opener at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Mirpur on Sunday.

In a match that ebbed and flowed, Bangladesh seemed to be on their way to chasing 187 after Shakib's 5-36 and Ebadot Hossain's 4-47 bowled India for a paltry 186 in 41.2 overs. But the Indian bowlers, led by Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar, triggered a Bangladesh collapse from 128/4 to 136/9 in a span of 26 balls.

With the hosts looking down and out, the result seemed like a foregone conclusion. But Mehidy, mostly farming the strike, had other ideas -- slicing short balls from debutant Kuldeep Sen over the third man for a brace of sixes in the 41st over. He had luck on his side in the next over as wicketkeeper K.L Rahul dropped his catch at 15 off Shardul Thakur and Sundar did not go for a catch at third man on the very next ball.

Mustafizur, who began the partnership with a nice punch to give Bangladesh a boundary after 105 balls, glanced Thakur through fine leg for four as the equation for the win came down to 10. Mehidy took Bangladesh to striking distance of a victory by slicing a short ball from Chahar in the 46th over past third man.

A no-ball added with a single and a tight run later, Mehidy finished off the chase with a punch through cover to give Bangladesh an unforgettable come-from-behind win with four overs to spare. He was unbeaten at 38, with Mustafizur being 10 not out as India wilted under pressure in the last six overs.

In the first innings, Shakib varied his pace, and lengths and used the crease well to spin a web around the Indian batters while Ebadot was superb in his short balls. For India, Rahul made a fine 73 off 70 balls but did not get any support from the rest of the batters.

Brief scores: India 186 all out in 41.2 overs (K.L Rahul 73, Rohit Sharma 27; Shakib Al Hasan 5-36, Ebadot Hossain 4-47) lost to Bangladesh 187/9 in 46 overs (Litton Das 41, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 38 not out; Mohammed Siraj 3-32, Washington Sundar 2-17) by one wicket.

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