India kept the 187-run chase tight for Bangladesh and was almost on the verge of winning before tailender Mehidy Hasan struck a blinder and helped the hosts reach their goal in 46 overs.
On Sunday, Team India suffered a difficult defeat in the series opener against Bangladesh, losing the first One-Day International by one wicket in a low-scoring match.
Before tailender Mehidy Hasan played a blinder of a knock and helped the hosts chase down the target in 46 overs.
Together with Mustafizur, Mehidy put together an unbeaten 51-run stand for the final wicket, which was also Bangladesh’s second-highest for the tenth wicket in ODIs.
Several factors contributed to India’s shocking defeat on Sunday in Dhaka:
Before Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj brought India back into business by removing Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim in consecutive balls, tenacious Mustafizur Bangladesh were well on their way to victory.
After that, Bangladesh took three more wickets, fell to 136/9 in the 40th over, and the hosts looked unlikely to win.
However, while Mehidy took charge, Mustafizur Rahman, who typically excels with the ball, saved Bangladesh by playing an impeccable second fiddle.
In 39.3 overs, Mustafizur made his way to the middle and only faced 11 balls before the game was over.However, Mustafizur scored 10 runs, including two boundaries, in the 11 deliveries he faced.
Mehidy Hasan’s historic score
When Mustafizur entered the middle, Mehidy had not yet played a game. By the end of the 40th over, Mehidy was batting on 1 from 9 balls.
The crowd at Shere-E-Bangla, on the other hand, was enthralled by what came next.
Mehidy started off by slamming debutant Kuldeep Sen for two maximums with Bangladesh still needing 47 in the final ten overs.
He cleverly executed Siraj’s subsequent over, which yielded only one run.
The tailender then scored three fours off Deepak Chahar’s over, reducing Bangladesh’s total from six overs to 14 runs.
Mehidy hit Chahar once more for a four in the final ball of the same over, ending the game with Bangladesh needing eight runs with five overs remaining.
No Indian spinners
Prior to inviting India to bat first, Shakib ran through the Indian middle order.
Indian spinners Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Ahmed, on the other hand, were unable to put on a performance that was comparable.
Even though Sundar bowled five overs and took two wickets.
India captain Rohit Sharma didn’t trust the spinners because he kept asking the pacers to take the final wicket, which they couldn’t.
Bangladesh can go hard with the extra pace
Because Mehidy is trying big hits, and the extra pace helped his case.
Two of his sixes that came off Kuldeep Sen’s over just missed the boundary, and the bowler’s speed was probably a factor.
In fact, when Mehidy hit three boundaries against Chahar in the over, one of them came off a leading edge and flew over the backward point.
Poor fielding
Washington Sundar didn’t try for an easy catch in the very next ball, leaving his skipper frustrated, and KL Rahul missed an easy chance in the third ball of the over.
Sundar made another mistake in the final ball of the 44th over, which resulted in a boundary and tilted the match in Bangladesh’s favor.