India fall prey to Tigers

Published on:

22 Jun 2015, 12:00 am

Indian batsmen once again struggled against young left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahaman as his six for 43 enabled Bangladesh to skittle out the two-time World Champions for a paltry 200 in 45 overs in a rain-affected second one day international cricket match, here on Sunday.Due to heavy downpour, the match has been reduced to 47 overs per side. The 19-year-old seamer from remore Satkhira village became only the second bowler in ODI history to record two five-wicket hauls in his first two matches. Zimbabwe left-arm pacer Brian Vitori is the only other bowler to get two fifers.Electing to bat in a must-win encounter of the three-match series, India kept losing wickets as Bangladesh bowlers once again showed their might at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Five Indian batsmen failed to reach double figures with three left without troubling the scorers including Ambati Rayudu, who was a surprise replacement of Ajinkya Rahane.

The Indian opener though was guilty of playing a loose shot away from his body and sliced it to point. Opener Shikhar Dhawan (53) made an useful contribution while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (47, 75 balls) looked horribly out of touch as he never could force the pace of the innings.The only significant stand of the Indian innings was between Dhawan and Virat Kohli (23) who added 74 for the 2nd wicket.It was Kohli broke lose in the ninth over to bring India's fifty with a six at long on. A brief rain interruption did not deter the batsmen from going for their runs but Nasir trapped Kohli leg before in the 13th over to bring alive the capacity crowd at Shere Bangla National Stadium. Kohli's poor form has been of some concern as he has got one century in the last 14 games with no score in excess of 50 in other games.

Dhoni promoted himself up the order to do the repair job with Dhawan, who registered his third ODI fifty.Nasir though was rewarded for his persistence as he struck a couple of balls later to get Dhawan caught behind after the left-hander tried to come down the track to drive a widish spinning delivery.

Medium-pacer Robel Hossain soon got Ambati Rayudu (0) to spell trouble for the visitors. Trying to dab at a short delivery, Rayudu was caught at point with Nasir taking a good catch.Suresh Raina (34) then joined Dhoni at the crease as the duo stitched a 53-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

But the in-form Mustafizur got Raina caught behind in the 36th over. Trying to cut a shortish delivery close to his body, Raina edged the ball as Das safely gloved it behind.

With his tail up, Mustafizur got the prized wicket of Dhoni with another lethal cutter that the veteran batsman was unable to read and lobbed the ball to short cover. The left-armer then got the crowd on its feet by trapping Axar Patel lBW to be on a hat-trick. The hat-trick ball was averted by Ravichandran Ashwin (4) but the youngster looked destined for another fifer after getting the Indian all-rounder trapped lBW in his ninth over.