Tigers scale new heights

Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman ran through the Indian batting line up once again to grab 6-43 and set up Bangladesh’s first ever series win over the country with a six-wicket win in the second one-day international in Dhaka on Sunday. Mustafiz picked up from where he ended the opening match, when he claimed 5-50, as Bangladesh raced to 200-4 with nine overs to spare and taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Bangladesh’s target was reduced by just one run after rain reduced the game to 47-over a-side following a break for little over an hour during the Indian innings. India, struggling at 196-8 during the break, could survive just seven more balls on resumption before they were folded for exactly 200 runs with two overs remaining unused. The hosts faced little problem to overhaul the total thanks to Sakib al Hasan’s second fifty in the series, which was complemented by few other cameos from Liton Das (36), Soumya Sarkar (34), Mushfiqur Rahim (31). Sabbir Rahman (22 not out) steered Axar Patel to third man for the winning run with Sakib unbeaten on 51 at the other end, having smashed five fours in his composed 62-ball innings. The win, which followed Thursday’s 79-run success, all but confirmed Bangladesh’s place in 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England after they cemented seventh position in ODI rankings. Hosts England, plus the seven next highest-ranked sides on September 30, 2015, will progress to the tournament. Unlike the first match, when emotion ran high on both camps, it was relatively a quiet game though there were symptoms of players losing the cool on few occasions. Bangladesh, asked to bowl first, took control of the game from the very first over owing to Mustafiz, the gangling fast bowler barely known by even most of the local fans before this series. But he turned out to be their hero once again joining Zimbabwe’s Brian Vitori as only the second man in history to take five or more wickets in first two matches of career. Rohit Sharma, the beneficiary of the no-ball controversy of the World Cup, flashed a drive at cover where Sabbir grasped a superb catch diving forward off only second ball of the innings. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli put 74 runs to revive the innings after Rohit left for a duck, but Nasir Hossain’s off-break bowling appeared to be too much for them to handle. Nasir, who returned with 2-33, flummoxed Kohli with his lack of pace trapping the star Indian batsman leg before for 23 just when he started to explode hitting Mustafiz a six and a four in an over. Dhawan then edged the occasional bowler behind the stumps to Tigers’ new wicketkeeper Liton soon after the opener completed his fifty. Ambati Rayudu, one of the three changes India made for the game, followed Dhawan without troubling the scorer as India were left reduced to 4-110. Dhoni promoted himself up in the order at number four and survived a drop catch at 21 to give an impression that he could be India’s rescuer-in-chief with a 53-run stand with Raina. Bangladesh were criticised in recent matches for not testing Raina with short ball, something, which is believed to be his one big weakness. Mustafiz must have been told this by his captain and coaching staff and he delivered instantly in his second spell. A short ball rose sharply to take an edge from Raina’s bat making him a catch of Liton for 34 and India started collapsing again, something that even Dhoni could not stave off. Dhoni succumbed to the pressure spooning a catch to Nasir at short cover giving Mustafiz his third wicket. A jubilated Mustafiz created a chance of hat-trick trapping Axar Patel leg before off the next ball. Ravichandran Ashwin survived the hat-trick ball but soon became Mustafizur’s fifth victim edging a catch behind the stumps for four. Mustafiz bowled Jadeja off his final delivery after the rain break and Rubel folded India’s innings two balls later to finish with 2-26. The third and final ODI will be held at same venue on June 24. News Courtesy:www.newagebd.net