Mustafizur's brilliance ruffles a beleagured India; Tigers script history- Bangladesh v India 2nd ODI Match Report

Mustafizur’s brilliance ruffles a beleagured India; Tigers script history- Bangladesh v India 2nd ODI Match Report: A brand new page got added in the prestigious history books of the gentleman’s game as Bangladesh, right from their embryonic stage in cricket, successfully managed to notch up a series win against India for the very first time. It was yet again Mustafizur’s virtuosity that sealed the fate against India.

Some nonchalant batting and poor shot making led to the downfall of the Indian batsmen, but nonetheless the excellent bowling performance by Bangladesh shouldn’t be denigrated one bit. Opting to bat after Dhoni won the toss, Mustafizur Rahman the hero of last match inflicted further pain on the Indians as he dismissed the ever ominous Rohit Sharma for naught. The after glow of last match’s victory hadn’t died down yet as the Bangladeshi supporters applauded every single dot ball.

Kohli and Dhawan looked to keep the situation under control and opted for the damage control mode carefully nudging the one’s and two’s. But when the run rate stooped low, that’s when Kohli accelerated hitting a six and a four of Mustafizur Rahman’s over and made sure that the score board kept ticking. But he perished to a straight one of Nasir Hossain in the 13th over that sent the crowd into euphoria. Dhawan having made a well paced, delightful 53 nicked one straight to Litton Das, again failing to convert his innings into a big one.

Included as replacement for Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu did not bother the scorers and walked back with a duck alongside. Rahane’s exclusion seemed a gamble and Rayudu couldn’t make optimum use of the rare opportunity that he got. Now the onus was on MS Dhoni who promoted himself up the order and the stylish south paw, Suresh Raina to steady the wobbling boat.

Raina and Dhoni the two potential marauders of the cricket ball took time to settle down and played sensibly. It was clear that the partnership aimed at not giving away their wickets. They scored at a little slower pace than what most would expect out of them and India were 162 for 4 at the end of 32 overs, a scoreline that not many would consider sufficient especially in this modern form of the game. Raina got dismissed at a really bad time in the 33rd over as he tried to play it too cute down to the third man but instead ended up nicking it to Litton Das’ gloves.

Mustafizur and Taskin rattled the lower middle order and Mustafizur created history by picking up 6 wickets and achieved the staggering feat of being only the second bowler in the world to take back to back fifers. India later got bundled up for a meager 200 runs. Rain interrupted the match and it was reduced to a 47 over game with Bangladesh needing 200 runs to seal the series.

Chasing a paltry 200 runs in 282 balls, Bangladesh got off to a speedy start, with Tamim and Sarkar dealing in boundaries. Tamim got out playing a needless shot but Sarkar and Litton Das kept playing proper cricketing shots and found the gaps quite consistently. Sarkar who was batting well at 34 bowling a straighter one that outfoxed a bewildered Sarkar and got the much needed breakthrough for his side.

Litton Das too departed soon after with Axar bowling a clever flighted delivery. Das went for an ambitious drive and paid the price. Bangladesh were 99-3 in 20 overs and were in a position where the one’s and two’s would be adequate to take them safely home. Axar Patel’s 26th over yielded 15 runs, but it would be unfair to come down too hard on Axar as Raina had earlier dropped Mushfiqur on his bowling.

Every boundary hit sent the crowd into recalcitrant ecstasy and it further instigated the Bangladeshi batsmen to finish off the game soon. Mushfiqur’s propensity to be aggressive against the spinners was well seen as he consistently took apart the spinners. Just when the match began to tilt very onesided, Dhoni effected a run out and dismissed Mushfiqur. The run out dismissal offered India a glimmer of hope but Shakib ensured that there was no further hiccups as he played sensible cricket that eventually led Bangladesh to a six wicket win that consequently got them their first ever series win against India.

Consecutive series wins against Pakistan and India have made cricket fans all over the world to think if Bangladesh had finally broken the shackles overcoming all impediments to emerge out as a top class team that can no longer be branded as a minnow team. India on the other hand have a lot of work ahead and have to introspect where they were miserable so to suffer such a humiliating defeat against an opponent that they thumped so authoritatively in the recent world cup.

Brief Score:

India- 200- 10 in 45 overs, (Dhawan-53 off 60 balls, Mustafizur Rahman-6 for 43)

Bangladesh- 200- 4 in 38 overs, (Shakib 51 off 62 balls, Ashwin-1 for 42), Bangladesh beat India by 6 wickets with 54 balls to spare.

Man of the match: Mustafizur Rahman