Ajinkya Rahane anchored his innings to perfection in the company of comeback man Robin Uthappa and guided India to a comfortable seven-wicket victory in a rain-truncated first ODI against Bangladesh here on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 273 in 50 overs, India were cruising along at 100 for one in 16.4 overs when the heavens opened up leading to a nearly two-hour delay. This lead to a revised target of 150 in 26 overs via D/l method, which India achieved with seven balls to spare.
The foundation was laid by Rahane, who scored 64 off 70 balls and shared a 99-run opening stand with Uthappa, who smashed a quickfire 50 off 44 balls. The delay affected the momentum and there were umpiring howlers from Bangladesh umpire Enamul Haque Moni. Ambati Rayudu (16) and Suresh Raina (15) were at the crease when the winning run was achieved.
The decision that Uthappa got was a poor one as Shakib’s armer hit the bat first before hitting the pad.
Cheteshwar Pujara (0) would consider himself unlucky as he got another howler from Moni, who adjudged him leg before off Shakib with ball hitting him on the thigh pads and clearly going above the stumps.
Earlier, an inexperienced Indian attack led by fast bowler Umesh Yadav performed decently on a flat track restricting hosts Bangladesh to 272 for nine in 50 overs.
Yadav grabbed three for 48 in nine overs as skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (59) and star all-rounder Shakib al Hasan (52) struck half-centuries after the former opted to make first use of the conditions. Debutant Parveez Rasool (2/60) grabbed couple of important top-order wickets while Amit Mishra (2/55) struck twice in the rear.
Brief scores
Bangladesh: 272/9 (Mushfiqur Rahim 56, Shakib 52; Umesh Yadav 3/48, Mishra 2/55, Parvez Rasool 2/60) lost to India: 153/3 in 24.5 overs (Robin Uthappa 50, Ajinkya Rahane 64; Al Hasan 2/27) by 7 wickets via D/l method.