Thursday, June 18, 2015

Mustafizur's five-for leads thumping win

Bangladesh 307 (Tamim 60, Sarkar 54, Shakib 52) beat India 228 (Rohit 60, Mustafizur 5-50) by 79 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Mustafizur Rahman took 5 for 50 on debut to smash India's chances of chasing 307 © Associated Press
On the tenth anniversary of their famous win over Australia in Cardiff, Bangladesh thumped a full-strength Indian team in front of a raucous Mirpur crowd. Nineteen year-old Mustafizur Rahman keeled over India's batsmen with an assortment of cutters to become the second Bangladesh bowler after Taskin Ahmed to claim a five-wicket haul on debut. His performance came after a rapid 102-run opening stand between Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar had formed the centerpiece of Bangladesh's 307, their highest against India in ODIs.
The 79-run victory meant Bangladesh needed to win only one out of their next five ODIs to cement their spot in the 2017 Champions Trophy, which will be contested by the top eight ranked ODI sides as of September 30, 2015.
Mustafizur had to leave the field for a while after colliding with MS Dhoni in the middle of the pitch, but the 19-year old fast bowler returned to snuff out India's chase by dismissing Suresh Raina and R Ashwin off successive balls. He could have become only the second bowler after Fidel Edwards to claim a six-for on ODI debut had he hung onto a return catch off his penultimate delivery. However, he had done enough and finished with outstanding figures of 9.2-1-50-5 in Bangladesh's ninth straight win at home.
Mustafizur and Taskin led Bangladesh's defence with verve and purpose. They sent balls zipping through the corridor and skirting past the outside edge in addition to drawing three lbw appeals in the first three overs.
Rohit Sharma settled down and brought up his half-century off 53 balls. His opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan, however, struggled for fluency and was dropped twice in four balls; Mushfiqur Rahim the culprit on both occasions.
Mushfiqur first dived to his left and grassed an outside edge before spilling one, diving to his right. The second drop caused much drama with umpire Rod Tucker prematurely giving Dhawan out without seeing Mushfiqur make a mess again. Dhawan was on his way and Nasir Hossain attempted a run out but play was dead by then.
After missing two, Mushfiqur made amends, pouching Dhawan and Virat Kohli, both batsmen undone by extra bounce from Taskin. Soon after, the nippy Mustafizur dismissed Rohit with an offcutter. There was no spark from Rahane, no counter-attack from MS Dhoni to pull India out of the mire. While Rahane lobbed Mustafizur to a leaping Nasir at cover, Dhoni nicked one behind off Shakib Al Hasan's first over. By then, India were teetering at 128 for 5 in 25.3 overs.
Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja resisted the rampant hosts with a 60-run stand before Bangladesh finished it off, sparking frenzied celebrations.
The day had begun in similar vein for Bangladesh. In rare sunlight after some bleak weather, Tamim and Sarkar set to work immediately after Mashrafe Mortaza chose to bat, launching a relentless onslaught on the Indian bowlers. Bangladesh soared past 100 off only 79 balls; their fastest against a top-eight team. Tamim raced down the track to the fifth ball of the match, and though he inside-edged it towards fine leg, he had signaled Bangladesh's intent. They weren't going to hold back.
Tamim found his groove quickly, hitting three fours and a six off Umesh Yadav in the sixth over. The first one was edged but did not carry to Dhawan at wide first slip, the second was lashed over point, the next pulled powerfully before the over ended with a belt over covers as Tamim briefly tore open the portal to the 2007 World Cup.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav erred on the pads, which was the theme of the early part of the innings and Dhoni was forced to bring his lead spinner - Ashwin - as early as the eighth over.
The pair was separated in the 14th over by some indecision between the wickets, Raina's accurate arm cutting short Sarkar's promising innings at 54.
Tamim reached a fifty too before a drizzle grew heavier, resulting in a delay of about an hour. It catalysed a shift in momentum with Ashwin striking thrice in four overs after the resumption. Ashwin had an able ally in Raina who settled into an asphyxiating rhythm in an uninterrupted spell, which read: 10-0-40-0.
Sabbir Rahman, though, combined well with Shakib, assembling 83 runs in 14.2 overs before Ravindra Jadeja bowled Sabbir with a signature flat darter. Shakib could have also been dismissed on 38 had Jadeja held onto a tough return catch. Shakib would add 14 more before perishing to Umesh.
Bhuvneshwar and Umesh tightened things up at the death, giving away giving away only 35 while picking up four wickets in the last five overs. However, late cameos from Mashrafe and Nasir hauled Bangladesh to their second 300-plus score in four ODIs.
Interviewed at the innings break, Shakib said that Bangladesh were 25 runs short. But they had ended up with 79 more and the night ended in a mood of revelry with Taskin and Mashrafe reprising their chest bump from the World Cup.

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