Bangladesh records first T20I victory over India
New Delhi, India - Mushfiqur Rahim's perfectly paced, unbeaten 60 took Bangladesh to a seven-wicket win over India, its first against its opponent in nine attempts. Rahim's late charge against Khaleel Ahmed completely changed the game in Delhi, so much so that the end was almost a formality.
Rahim employed the pull shot, a scoop and two scythes through point to reduce Bangladesh's chase from 20 off ten balls to a mere four runs in the last over. Ahmed was the bowler bearing the brunt of Rahim's calculated hits, which came quite late, given how set he was at the crease up until that point.
But in the end, it was a masterstroke to hold back his shots till that point, as Bangladesh savoured its big moment.
The debutant Shivam Dube was handed the ball in the last over. He was ineffective, as Mahmudullah ran hard to complete two runs off the second ball, before getting a wide and then hammering one over wide long-on for six.
India could have done better to avoid the defeat, notably when Rahim slog swept a ball in the 18th over to deep square leg and Krunal Pandya not only missed the catch but let it go for four too
When India batted first, Rohit Sharma was trapped lbw by a Shafiul Islam delivery that moved back in slightly in the first over. The home side's rhythm was further dented when Lokesh Rahul bunted leg-spinner Aminul Islam's half-tracker to Mahmudullah at short cover.
Shreyas Iyer pushed the runrate but he too fell to Aminul, mistiming a lofted drive, having struck a four and two sixes in his 13-ball 22. At the other end, Shikhar Dhawan set his sights to bat through the innings, but
Rishabh Pant's poor call for a second run cost him, and India, dearly. Dhawan top-scored with 41, but it came off 42 balls.
Afif Hossain then leapt high to complete a fine return catch to dismiss Dube before Pant fell trying to clear long-on, having made 27 off 26 balls. At 120 for six with ten balls left in the innings, India got the perfect boost as Krunal and Washington Sundar cobbled together 28. Sundar hit two sixes while Pandya struck a four and a six off the last ball of the innings.
Without a left-arm spinner in a T20I line-up for the first time, Mahmudullah used leg-spinner Aminul and off-spinner Afif intelligently, the two youngsters combining to produce figures of three for 33 in six overs.
With Liton Das falling in the first over of the chase, the pressure was on Mohammad Naim, the debutant left-handed opener. He took a bit of time before flicking Deepak Chahar for a six over square leg in the fifth over, before hitting a four a few balls later.
Soumya Sarkar then took on Sundar with a reverse slog for six before smashing Ahmed for a four through the covers in the seventh over. Naim fell in the eighth over when Yuzvendra Chahal had him caught at longon, having made 26 off 28 balls.
With Naim's wicket, Chahal hit his stride in his next over, when he had Rahim in a tangle. After a perfect leg-break, Chahal rushed one on to the batsman's pads, before nearly having him out leg-before. Rahim managed to take a single, before Soumya too had a tough time getting Chahal away. The over ended with just one run conceded, as India began to look dominant.
From this point and until the start of the penultimate over, it looked like Rahim had messed up his calculations trying to manoeuvre India's bowling on a slow, turning pitch. But he trusted his plans and as a result Bangladesh walked off with a win under its belt.