Bangladesh failed to take advantage of the platform provided by their openers in Pune against India on Wednesday (October 19) as they finished with a par score of 256/8. Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das hit sparkling fifties and added 93 for the opening wicket before Bangladesh lost their way. Eventually, a vital cameo from Mahmudullah at the death helped them go past the 250-run mark.
The powerplay after Bangladesh opted to bat was quite contrasting. The two openers were cautious to begin with against both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj. In the first five overs, only 10 runs were scored and India had even squandered an opportunity to reverse a lbw decision against Tanzid. Litton then took advantage of a couple of short deliveries from Siraj in the sixth over that kickstarted a superb comeback. Tanzid pulled Bumrah for a six and followed it up with a couple of boundaries off Siraj to slowly turn the tide.
Litton then welcomed Hardik Pandya into the crease with successive boundaries following which the allrounder injured his left ankle. Hardik gave India a major scare as he walked off the field with Virat Kohli completing the over. Later, the BCCI also confirmed that the 30-year-old was taken for scans. Bangladesh then targeted Shardul Thakur knowing India had only five proper bowlers now and the young Tanzid succeeded by fetching 16 runs off his first over.
From 10/0, Bangladesh raced to 63/0 after the powerplay. The two batters continued to milk the bowling attack before Kuldeep Yadav finally gave India a vital breakthrough. Tanzid, who had just brought up his first half-century in international cricket, failed to connect a sweep and was trapped leg-before-wicket. Najmul Shanto, the captain on the day in place of the injured Shakib Al Hasan, struggled before Ravindra Jadeja put him out of his misery with a quicker delivery to trap him lbw. While Litton brought up his fifty at the other end, Bangladesh continued to slide as Mehidy Hasan was the next to go when he edged one down leg side with KL Rahul taking a blinder.
Litton, the key wicket at this point, threw it away at a crucial juncture by mistiming one to long off. From 93/0, Bangladesh found themselves struggling at 137/4. India bowled a few tight overs in that middle period to stay on top of the game and as a result, Bangladesh had to rely heavily on the experienced pair of Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim to give them a fighting total. While Rahim did keep the scorecard moving, India struck again at the right time as Jadeja took a blinder at backward point to get rid of the set batter with a little over seven overs remaining. Mahmudullah then fetched boundaries in the final five overs against India’s pace trio to drag them to a respectable total but India will still fancy their chances of keep their unbeaten record in the tournament intact.