Bangladesh 271 for 7 (Mehidy 100*, Mahmudullah 77, Washington 3-37) beat India 266 for 9 (Iyer 82, Axar 56, Rohit 51*, Ebadot 3-45, Shakib 2-39, Mehidy 2-46) by five runs
Mirpur December 8, 2022: Mehidy Hasan Miraz became Bangladesh’s hero for the second game in a row by pulling off another remarkable effort with the bat in another see-saw match, scoring his maiden ODI century off just 83 balls to pull his team out of trouble and post a challenging 271 for 7 that proved to be just beyond India’s reach in the end. India lost early wickets and were reduced to 207 for 8 when an injured Rohit Sharma walked out and made a match out of the equation of 65 off 44 balls. He belted five sixes even as he was running out of partners and brought it down to 20 needed off the last over and a six needed off the last ball, but an accurate yorker from Mustafizur Rahman sealed the series for Bangladesh. The 2-0 win ensured Bangladesh’s second series win against India after their 2-1 win in 2015.
Bangladesh were first rescued by Mehidy and Mahmudullah with a record seventh-wicket stand of 148 to pull them out of the pits of 69 for 6 before their quicks struck early to dent India ‘s chase. Virat Kohli opened in Rohit’s absence, but he and Shikhar Dhawan fell in the first three overs of the chase, and the Bangladesh spinners struck later on to hurt India further. Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel tried to rescue India from 65 for 4 with a century stand but it was only a matter of breaking that stand for Bangladesh to bounce back. Once they did, with Iyer’s wicket in the 35th over when India needed another 100 runs, the hosts roared back with Axar’s wicket too, and India’s lower order, with an injured Deepak Chahar, only delayed the inevitable as the asking rate crept up until Rohit gave the hosts a scare.
Another low-scoring match seemed likely when Mehidy and Mahmudullah got together in the 19th over. Mohammed Siraj’s early movement accounted for the openers by trapping Anamul Haque lbw and knocking over Litton Das’ middle stump. The ball before Haque’s dismissal was when Rohit picked up his thumb injury, as he dropped the batter at second slip and walked back immediately, only to bat in the 43rd over of the chase.
Umran Malik fired in a few thunderbolts above 150kph and one of them ended Najmul Hossain Shanto’s scratchy stay for 21 when the batter was beaten by pace to lose his off stump. Siraj and Malik then peppered Shakib with a short-ball barrage and struck his helmet twice with bouncers. As soon as Malik was taken off, Shakib tried to attack Washington, but the attempted sweep was top-edged, and was taken by Dhawan at short fine leg after a juggle. Sixty-six for 4 soon became 69 for 6 when Washington Sundar removed Mushfiqur Rahim and Afif Hossain, having them caught off the glove and bowled respectively.
Mehidy and Mahmudullah, however, steered Bangladesh out of troubled waters and set the stage for a late push. They found the boundaries regularly in the middle overs as Mahmudullah dropped anchor and Mehidy played the attacking role by smoking Washington for a six down the ground and then slog-sweeping Axar for his second six. Mehidy seemed to be struggling with cramps soon after, but he continued to run ones and twos and brought up his half-century off 55 balls. Mahmudullah got to his off 74 balls; in between, the century stand also came up as Bangladesh reached 169 for 6 with 10 overs left.
By now, India were a bowler short as Deepak Chahar had a stiff hamstring. The two batters cashed in on that as Mahmudullah went after Siraj in the 46th by targeting the leg-side boundary in a 14-run over, and even though he fell in the next over, Mehidy’s best was yet to come.
Nasum Ahmed too slapped Malik down the ground for back-to-back fours and then smashed Siraj for a six in the next over to take them towards 250. It was the Mehidy show after that. He was on 72 off 74 with two overs to go and he first went after Malik with two drives that raced to the boundary before reverse-scooping the last ball to the deep-third boundary to make it a 14-run over. In the last over, Mehidy carted Thakur for two big sixes on the leg side off slower balls, reached 99 with a double and dabbed the last ball – a full toss – towards mid-on to reach the hundred. With a useful 11-ball 18 from Nasum, Mehidy helped Bangladesh collect 68 off the last five overs and 102 off the last ten.
India’s chase lost most of its steam when Kohli chopped on off Ebadot Hossain for 5 and Dhawan was bounced out by a ripper of a short ball from Mustafizur Rahman to be caught at point for 8. Washington came out at No. 4 ahead of Rahul, but he fell on the last ball of the powerplay when he chipped Shakib to midwicket for an easy catch. Rahul’s boundary-less stay didn’t last long either; he attempted a lap sweep against a straight ball from Mehidy to be trapped right in front and India were 65 for 4.
Axar and Iyer kept India’s hopes alive as the asking rate was still under seven an over. Iyer was his usual attacking self against the spinners. Axar was the quicker of the two as he found gaps regularly and went after Nasum and Shakib early on for sixes on the leg side, while Iyer brought up a patient fifty off 69 balls. Their stand was eventually broken when Iyer tried to go for a second six in the 35th over but holed out to deep midwicket for 82.
Axar continued to attack and brought up a run-a-ball fifty but Ebadot returned to remove him immediately by having him caught at cover with the equation still a gettable 83 off 70 balls. However, India didn’t have many options left. Shardul Thakur struggled to connect during his 23-ball 7 before he was stumped and an injured Chahar fell for 11 off 18.
Rohit mainly had the poorer side of the tail for company and started his boundary barrage with two sixes and a four off Ebaot to bring it down to 41 off 24. Mahmudullah and Mustafizur strengthened Bangladesh’s position again by giving just one run off two overs by keeping Siraj mostly on strike. With 40 to get off 12, Rohit smoked Mahmudullah for two sixes, got two lives in four balls and lost Siraj before reducing it to 20 needed off six but couldn’t finish it on the last ball.
