Mustafizur takes five wickets on debut as Bangladesh hammer India

June 19, 2015

Mirpur, Jun 19: High-flying India was brought down to earth by a spirited Bangladesh who pulled off an upset 79- run victory in the first ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh outsmarted India in all departments of the game and extracted a sweet revenge for their their quarterfinal loss at the hands of the same opponents in the World Cup earlier this year.

Chasing an imposing 308 for win, the Indians made a steady start before losing wickets at heap to be bundled out for 228 with four overs to spare.

Openers Rohit Sharma (63 off 68) and Shikhar Dhawan (30 off 38) stitched a 95-run stand for the first wicket, while Suresh Raina -- with a run-a-ball 40 -- and Ravindra Jadeja (32 off 42) also tried their bit to save the day for India, which was not to be.

Debutant Mustafizur Rahman (5/50) turned out to be the star performer for Bangladesh with the ball, picking up a five-for in his first international match. He was supported well by pace partner Taskin Ahmed (2/21) and Shakib al Hasan (2/33).

Earlier, Indian bowlers were taken to task by some fantastic batting by Bangladesh top-order as the home team posted a challenging score of 307 all out in 49.4 overs, in their highest score against India in ODIs, surpassing the previous best of 296 for six at the same venue in 2010.

Openers Soumya Sarkar (54 off 40 balls) and Tamim Iqbal (60 off 62 balls) added 102 runs for the opening stand in only 13.4 overs to lay a solid foundation.

Shakib (52 off 68 balls), Sabbir Rahaman (41 off 44 balls) and Nasir Hossain (34) batted well in the middle-order to take Bangladesh to a substantial total.

While Ravichandran Ashwin (3/51 in 10 overs) was the most successful bowler for India, Umesh Yadav (2/58 in 8 overs) and Mohit Sharma (1/53 in 4.3 overs) were especially taken apart by the Bangladeshi batsmen.

Ravindra Jadeja (1/48) was good in patches and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/37 in 7 overs) ended with a decent outing.

Later, as the target suggested it was bound to be a tough chase for the Indians and it turned out to be so.

India's opening duo of Rohit and Dhawan were off to a shaky start as Bangladesh's pace combination of Mustafizur and Taskin bowled a prodding line and length.

The duo's disciplined bowling initially didn't allow the Indian openers to free their arms as the visitors made just 17 runs off the first four overs.

But after the initial jitters, the openers finally opened up when Dhawan dished out a fine cover drive off Taskin to strike the first boundary of the visitors' innings in the last ball off the fourth over.

After a cautious initial perriod, Rohit showed his class when he fetched 15 runs off Rahman in the seventh over.

Rohit first effortlessly pulled Rahman over square leg for a six and then followed it up with deft push to the cover boundary. He then drove the bowler on the up to fetch another elegant four.

Bangladesh's Test captain and wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim handed two lives to Dhawan in consecutive overs. Mushfiqur first dropped Dhawan at the personal score of 13 when Rubel Hossain induced a sharp outside edge in the ninth over and then an over later the home team wicket-keeper again spilled an inside edge off the left-hander off skipper Mortaza's bowling. India reached 66 for no loss at the end of the 10th over.

Rohit went on to score his 26th ODI half-century in the 15th over.

Bangladesh tasted success in the last ball of the 16th over in the form of Dhawan, whose luck finally ran out when he top-edged a Taskin delivery to Mushfiqur behind the stumps while going for an upper cut.

Taskin dealt India another blow an over later when he induced an edge to Mushfiqur off a loose shot from dangerman Virat Kohli for a solitary run.

Two overs later, debutant Mustafizur gave Bangladesh another reason to rejoice when he accounted for the important wicket of a set Rohit. Rohit failed to pick a fullish slower delivery only to give a massive leading edge to Mortaza at mid-off.

Young Mustafizur was again at the thick of things when he dismissed Ajinkya Rahane (9) in his next over with another slower ball, caught by Nasir Hossain as India slumped to a precaurious 115 for four after 23 overs.

Much was expected from the Indian captain, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni (5) too cut a sorry figure and departed early as Mushfiqur took a sharp catch off the bowling of Shakib.

Raina and Jadeja then tried to steady India's rollicking ship with a 67-ball 60-run fifth-wicket partnership before the visitors lost two more quick wickets.

Young Mustafizur couldn't have asked for a better debut as he picked up the wickets of Raina and Ashwin with consecutive deliveries in the 37th over to shatter India's hopes.

Brought back into the attack by Mortaza, Mustafizur was smacked by the left-handed batsman over the cover boundary for a six but the bowler took his revenge two balls later when he went through Raina's defence. Mustafizur then induced an edge from Ashwin with his next delivery to sent the packed Sher-e-Bangla stadium into a frenzy. He picked up his fifth wicket of the day when Jadeja was holed out at long-on by Sarkar.

From there on victory was just a formality for Bangaldesh and the hosts finally managed to wrap up India's innings in the 46th over.

Earlier, Bangladesh openers Sarkar and Tamim started in a whirlwind fashion after their skipper Mortaza opted to bat on a good surface.

While Tamim played and missed a lot during the first few overs, Sarkar was more assured with his footwork as he repeatedly lofted the duo of Bhuvenshwar and Yadav over the in-field. There were some lofted cover drives as well as pull-shots in the arc between mid-wicket and square leg.

When Ashwin was initially brought into the attack, Sarkar lofted him over deep midwicket for a huge six. The coveted half-century came off 38 balls when he just guided a delivery from Mohit over keeper's head for a one bounce four.

To be fair to Tamim, once he got a couple of boundaries, he also matched his junior colleague stroke for stroke even though Sarkar's batting was more pleasing to the eye.

The floodgates for the senior pro opened in the sixth over of the innings bowled by an erratic Yadav which yielded 18 runs. The Vidarbha pacer bowled all over the place as Tamim guided the bowler to the third man for a boundary, followed by a slashed boundary over point and then grilled him past mid-on.

As if to complete the humiliation, he danced down the track to lift him over covers for a six.

The Indian bowlers looked clueless as 100 came up in the 13th over before a smart work from Raina in the field saw Sarkar head back towards pavilion for a well-made 54 off 40 balls with eight fours and a six.

Tamim was however unfazed as he completed his 30th half-century in ODIs with a boundary off Mohit and followed it up with another four. His 50 came off as many deliveries.

However on a personal score of 60, he danced down the track to loft Ashwin but only found Rohit at long-on boundary. Tamim's innings had eight hits to the fence and a maximum to go with it.

From 102 for no loss, Bangladesh quickly slumped to 146 for four as debutant Litton Das (8) and Test captain Mushfiqur (14) were dismissed cheaply by Ashwin.

But then Shakib was joined by Sabbir as the duo first arrested the slide and followed it up with some clean hitting. They added 83 runs for the fifth wicket to take Bangaldesh score close to 250 by the start of the final 10 overs.

Once Sabbir was cleaned up Jadeja, seasoned Shakib carried on hitting the occasional boundaries and running well between the wickets.

Shakib's was a patient innings in contrast to the openers as his 52 came off 68 balls with three boundaries before Yadav finally got a wicket.

Towards the end, skipper Mortaza (21 off 18) also played a good hand for the hosts, who ended the night with a memorable win.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 21,2020

Wellington, Feb 22: shant Sharma's lion-hearted bowling effort met its match in Kane Williamson's elegance as New Zealand ended an attritional second day of the opening Test against India with a slight upper-hand, here on Saturday.

After another lower-order collapse that saw India get bundled out for 165, Ishant, coming straight back from an ankle injury, took three for 31 in 15 overs despite Williamson's effortless 89 in New Zealand's day-end score of 216 for 5.

New Zealand now lead by 51 runs.

Mohammed Shami (1/61 in 17 overs), during his final spell of the day, removed Williamson, who couldn't check an uppish drive. Henry Nicholls' (17 off 62 balls) struggle seemed to have hampered Williamson's rhythm.

During the final hour, Ravichandran Ashwin (1/60 in 21 overs), who also bowled beautifully throughout the day, relieved Nicholls' of his agony with a delivery that had drift and a hint of turn as India skipper Virat Kohli snapped the low catch at second slip.

Williamson looked good as he hit some delightful strokes square off the wicket. The square drive on the rise off Jasprit Bumrah (0/62 in 18.1 overs), followed by a cover drive, showed his class.

In all, the New Zealand skipper hit 11 boundaries off 153 balls.

Bumrah, in particular, was punished by Williamson, who also back-cut him for a boundary and Taylor then punished another half volley through the covers.

There were quite a few loose deliveries on offer from the Indian pacers and in between a few did beat the bat. With the 'Basin' baked in sunshine, batting became lot more easier and Black Caps seized the initiative.

Bumrah, in particular, failed to find his length consistently. Either he bowled too full and drivable length deliveries or too short that even Rishabh Pant failed to gather with the ball going a couple feet over his head.

This is where Ishant came into the picture. While he was lucky to get opener Tom Latham out with a delivery drifting on leg-stump, the other opener Tom Blundell (30) had a typical Ishant dismissal written all over it.

The ball was full on the off-stump channel and jagged back enough to find the gap between his bat and pad.

Williamson and Taylor then had a partnership of 93 runs during which New Zealand also got the lead before Ishant, coming back for his third spell, bowled one that reared up from good length and proved to be an easy catch for Cheteshwar Pujara at short-leg.

Once Nicholls came in, Williamson, who was batting fluently, suddenly had a player at the opposite end who scored only 4 off 34 balls.

Looking good for his 22nd Test hundred, Williamson, in his bid to get another boundary, couldn't check a cover drive and the low catch was taken by substitute fielder Ravindra Jadeja.

Earlier, New Zealand's debutant Kyle Jamieson and veteran Tim Southee took four wickets apiece as Indian innings folded in 68.1 overs.

Jamieson (4/49 in 16 overs) and Southee (4/49 in 20.1 overs) took four of the five wickets that fell on the second morning with India adding only 43 runs to their overnight score of 122 for 5.

Rishabh Pant (19) started with a six but then a horrible mix-up with senior partner Ajinkya Rahane (46) resulted in a run-out and the little chance of recovery was gone for good.

It was a poor call from the senior player and Pant had to sacrifice his wicket in the process.

Ashwin then received a beauty from Southee, pretty similar to what Prithvi Shaw got, while Rahane inside edged one while trying to leave it alone.

With India at 132 for 7, Rahane knew that time was running out as he played a square drive off Trent Boult to get him a boundary.

Southee then got rid of Rahane when he tried to shoulder arm a delivery that made a late inward movement. Mohammed Shami's entertaining 21 then enabled the visitors to cross the 150-run mark.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
January 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Thursday dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on the future of the former India captain who has not played since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand last year.

The BCCI announced the central contracts for the period of October 2019 to September 2020. Dhoni was in the A category, which fetches a player Rs 5 crore, until last year.

Skipper Virat Kohli, his deputy Rohit Sharma and top pacer Jasprit Bumrah were retained in the highest A+ bracket of Rs 7 crore.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.