IND vs BAN: 1st T20I – Mushfiqur Rahim clinches historic win for Bangladesh
Amidst internal turmoil and smoggy Delhi weather, Bangladesh clinched a historic win over India in the opening T20I of the three-match series at Arun Jaitley Stadium. After restricting India’s heavyweight batting lineup for only 148 runs, Mushfiqur Rahim played a stellar knock to shock the Indians. Previously, Bangladesh had suffered eight losses in T20I cricket against India, this is their first-ever win.
Check out the full scorecard here
Indian batsmen struggle to get going
Before the opening encounter commenced, there were discussions about Delhi’s degrading air quality. However, the match went ahead as planned. Indian captain in the absence of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma began with a flourish but fell in the first over itself. Every batsman that walked in next struggled to gauge the pace of the pitch. Bangladeshi captain Mahmudullah rotated his bowlers cleverly and did not allow the batsmen to breathe easy.
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It was Shreyas Iyer who provided a fresh spark. His flashy innings remained a cameo as he fell for an entertaining 22 from 13 balls. Shikhar Dhawan struggled the most. The local lad laboured his way to 41 from 42 balls before he was found short of his crease. Krunal Pandya and Washington Sundar’s late charge helped India post a competitive total of 148/6 in 20 overs. From eight Bangladeshi bowlers on display, Aminul Islam was the most impressive. The leggie dismissed KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
Rahim and Sarkar keep the chase alive
Bangladesh also lost their opener Liton Das in the first over itself. His partner, Mohammad Naim played a few breathtaking strokes on his way to 26 (28 balls). Yuzvendra Chahal soon accounted for Naim. The leggie bowled exceptionally well on a track that was slow in nature. Soumya Sarkar and Rahim survived a difficult patch of spin bowling. Especially Rahim was lucky to escape from decisions that were not reviewed by India.
Despite the flourishing partnership between Rahim and Sarkar, India were still in the game when visitors needed 50 runs from the last five overs. Khaleel Ahmed did get rid of Sarkar but three balls later Pandya dropped a catch of Rahim at the boundary rope. The drop proved to be fatal as Rahim smashed Khaleel for four consecutive boundaries in the penultimate over. Debutant Shivam Dube stepped up to bowl the final over where he had to defend four runs. Mahmudullah ensured a tie first and then struck the third ball of the over for a six to finish the game in style. Rahim was adjudged player of the match for his 60 not out from 43 balls.
