Captain Shakib Al Hasan and Towhid Hridoy hit half-centuries before the lower-order batters stepped up in carrying Bangladesh to 265/8 against India in a Super Four match of the Asia Cup at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday.
At 59/4, with no Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh were in trouble. Shakib stepped up with his calculative play to top score with 80 and shared a 101-run partnership with Hridoy, who made a lovely 54.
The lower-order of Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, and Tanzim Hasan Sakib were impressive in hitting 44, 29 not out, and 14 not respectively against an Indian bowling line-up minus Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj to set a target of 266 for the Rohit Sharma-led side to win the match.
Pushed into batting first, Tanzid Hasan smashed three beautiful boundaries, two of which were back-to-back well-timed drives against Shardul Thakur. Mohammed Shami brought India’s first breakthrough by getting the ball to move in off the seam and cast Litton Das through the gate.