Uthappa, Rahane does it for India against Bangladesh

Written by: Aravind R Sankar

Summary: Bangladesh: 272/9 (50 ovrs, Mushfiqur 59, Shakib 52, Yadav 3-48) lost to India: 150/3 (25 ovrs, Rahane 64, Uthappa 50, Shakib 2-27) by D/L method

Aksar Patel and Parvez Razool earned the 201^st and 202^nd caps in Team India respectively, making their debuts on a day that was preceded by some high scoring World Cup football games on the other side of the hemisphere. On a dry and a sultry afternoon at the Sher-E-Bangla stadium, Bangladesh decided to bat first after winning the toss against a relatively inexperienced Indian side. Despite a two and a half hour rain interruption, India romped home with 7 wickets to spare chasing 150 to win under the D/L method, Ajinkya Rahane the chief architect of the chase.

Characteristic show by young Indian side:

It was quite intriguing that the second most senior player in the team after the skipper Suresh Raina(189 ODIs) was Robin Uthappa (38 ODIs) prior to this game. But what was on display for the first 15 overs dispelled any doubts about the bowling having no experience. The seam duo of MM Sharma and Umesh Yadav gave away nothing as the opposition crawled to their 50 in 89 balls, Yadav in particular was quite impressive picking up 2 wickets in the process, using both pace and bounce to test the Bangladeshi openers. The spinners were equally economical till the captain Mushfiqur Rahim walked out.

Photo by: ICC

Mushfiqur was in sublime form, giving the otherwise subdued home crowd something to cheer about. He took singles as Anamul Haque kept him company and found the fence when needed. Rasool ended up at the receiving end and was a touch expensive, but provided the crucial breakthroughs including that of the skipper, who brought up his half century at almost a run a ball. But his composed knock set the tone for the other batsmen to come.

The middle order of Mahmadullah, Shakib, Hossain and Mortaza struck some much needed blows in the second powerplay to post the 200, ensuring that the momentum didn’t slip despite wickets after partnerships. The visitors toiled and toiled hard, the heat getting to Mohit Sharma who earlier had to retire for a short period due to a slight niggle on his foot. That meant spinners bowling the final overs. Strangely enough, the wickets tumbled in search of big hits courtesy Amit Mishra, but Bangladesh managed to post 272, a challenge considering the conditions the visitors were playing in. Amidst all this, Raina shuffled his bowlers well enough to rest them, brought himself on to bowl five overs, picked up a wicket and took a one handed stunner to his right.

India all the way even with rain interruption:

Rahane’s 70 took India home against Bangladesh in First ODI.
Photo by: ICC

India got off to a circumspect start with Rahane and Uthappa playing in and biding their time, similar to the manner in which the clouds slowly crept around the stadium. India added 50 in just 8.5 overs. Both these openers then unleashed an array of shots all over the ground even as they ran ones and twos comfortably. The D/L equation coming into play, India needed 66 after 20 overs, but the openers in blue were way past the asking rate. Just when things were going the visitors’ way, Uthappa was adjudged lbw for a busy fifty, the bowler his KKR team-mate Shakib Al Hasan. The clouds however, showed no sign of receding and just before the inevitable happened, they were sitting pretty at a run-a-ball hundred with plenty of batting to come. Being the first day of the monsoon season in the country, the rain poured in buckets and that meant India had to bat out atleast 20 overs for any chance of producing a result.

After nearly two and a half overs of rain interruption, India were facing a revised target of 150 in 26 overs after a pitch inspection and were left to score 50 off the last 56 balls. Post rain, the pitch offered a lot of turn and bounce, one delivery which gave Bangladesh the wicket of Pujara. Rahane also fell after a well made 70 ball 64 to a stunning catch by Ziaur Rahman, whose dive evoked memories of the recently famous Van Persie header against Spain. Despite the jitters, Bangladesh posed no real threat to the chase and in the end Raina and Tiwary completed the formalities to go 1-0 up in the three match Sahara Cup series.

You can follow Aravind R Sankar on Twitter at @Fastudious