Bangladesh survived a stunning onslaught from India captain Rohit Sharma late in the innings on Wednesday night to seal their ongoing three match ODI series 2-0, winning the second match at the Shere Bangla stadium in Mirpur by just 5 runs riding on maiden career century for their all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Bangladesh set India a target of 272 runs on Wednesday in the second ODI understated the visiting side to 266/9, with half centuries from Shreyas Iyer (82), Axar Patel (56) and Rohit Sharma (51 not out) going in vain as the Indian team lost an ODI series in Bangladesh for the second consecutive time.
In both the matches so far in this series, Bangladesh came out on top showing better resolve and application as they had won the first match in outstanding circumstances when Mehndi Hasan Miraz scored the majority of the partnership for the 10th wicket with Mustafizur Rahman to take his side over the finish line.
On Wednesday, Mehidy Hasan Miraz led the fightback for Bangladesh after the home team was reduced to 69/6 in 19 overs as the young all-rounder went on to notch his maiden century in the format.
Mehdi Hasan Miraz added a record 148 runs for the seventh wicket in the company of Mahmudullah to help Bangladesh bounce back from a precarious position to that of complete command against the Indian bowlers, who lost both their line and lengths and could not keep control on the run flow especially in the last 10 overs.
It indeed was a contest wherein fortunes swayed from one side to another in short intervals. After Bangladesh elected to bat first, it was Washington Sundar who ran riot in the Bangladeshi innings, taking 3 wickets to reduce the home team to 69/6 after 19 overs. This was when the pair of Mehdi Hasan Miraz and Mahmudullah got together to bail their side out of trouble and put them in a commanding position with their stunning stand for the seventh wicket.
In their reply, India were off to a shaky start with Virat Kohli (5) and Shikhar Dhawan (8) falling cheaply and KL Rahul being held back in favour of Washington Sundar, who also could not trouble the scorers much as he was dismissed for a 19-ball 11.
Indian were able to resurrect their chase courtesy much-needed 107 run stand for the fifth wicket between Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer, who batted with a lot of conviction to bring the visitors back into the contest. However, they both were dismissed at the wrong time from the Indian team’s perspective, especially Shreyas Iyer, who looked set for a century after scoring an impressive half-century in the first ODI as well.
Shreyas Iyer was dismissed by Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 82 from 102 balls which included 6 boundaries and 3 sixes whereas Axar Patel made 56 from as many balls with 3 boundaries and 2 sixes.
India captain Rohit Sharma had taken a blow to his thumb earlier in the day and was taken off the field and for further scans, which revealed that he had this making this located his thumb and had suffered stitches.
The Indian captain was able to come out to bat only at the ninth position when they needed 65 from 44 balls, an equation which was able to bring down to 20 needed off the last over and 6 needed off the final ball when Mustafizur Rahman nailed a perfect yorker to deny Rohit Sharma and India a series levelling victory.
Rohit Sharma tried his best — with a dislocated thumb and stitches on his hand, the right-handed batsman hammered 5 sixes and 3 boundaries to remain unbeaten on 51 from just 28 deliveries.
However, Rohit Sharma was unfortunate to have not got the chance to face Mustafizur Rahman in the 18th over of the innings in which Mohammed Siraj struggled horribly to put bat on ball and rotate the strike to bring his captain to face the Bangladeshi left-arm bowler.
India will now look to salvage pride and win the third and final ODI, for which the two teams will travel to Chattogram and play the game on Saturday, December 10. The first Test of their two-match series will also be played here.
