B’desh post commanding 307 against India in 1st ODI

Indian bowlers were taken to task by some fantastic batting by Bangladesh top-order as the home team posted a challenging score of 307 in 49.4 overs in the first <g data-gr-id="52">one day</g> international cricket match, here on Thursday. This is also Bangladesh’s 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 al Hasan (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. The Indian bowlers somewhat redeemed themselves in the final 10 overs in which Bangladesh scored only 57 runs and lost the last five wickets for only 40 runs.

Bangladesh openers Sarkar and Tamim started in a whirlwind fashion after their skipper Mashrafe 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 <g data-gr-id="64">pull-shots</g> 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 <g data-gr-id="59">a one</g> 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 <g data-gr-id="50">mid-one</g>. 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 Suresh 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 <g data-gr-id="57">was however</g> 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 Sharma at <g data-gr-id="47">long-on</g> 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 Rahim (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 <g data-gr-id="46">Bangaldesh</g> 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. 

 In what seemed like a surprising change behind the stumps, Virat Kohli donned the wicketkeeper’s gloves for an over as captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni took an over’s break during the Bangladesh innings here on <g data-gr-id="66">Thursday .</g> Kohli, who has never kept wickets in any international match so far, stood a safe distance from the stumps but did his wicketkeeping duty without the pads. The reason for Dhoni’s absence was not known. It was the start of the 44th over when Kohli was seen wearing Dhoni’s gloves as medium-pacer. Umesh Yadav came charging in to bowl to Nasir Hossain. The Test skipper did collect the fifth delivery from Yadav.