Poor fielding and a failure to take their chances ultimately came back to haunt India as Bangladesh recorded a famous victory against the men in blue in the first One Day International on Sunday.
Bangladesh showed courage and batted with caution, registering the highest partnership of their innings for the last wicket to hand India a defeat in a low scoring match.
Mehidy Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman stayed put in the face of the Indian bowling attack which at one point looked dangerous enough to secure them the win. The final pairing put up a fifty run partnership to defeat India in the first of the three match series at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Bangladesh.
Having won the toss, Bangladesh put India to bat first. K L Rahul was the pick of the batsmen scoring the most, 73 off 70 deliveries as a poor overall batting performance meant that the men in blue were bowled out for 186 in 41.2 overs. Apart from skipper Rohit Sharma (27), Shreyas Iyer (24) and Washington Sundar (19), none of the Indian batters were able to get past the 10-run mark.
However, the Indian bowlers gave some hope to the team dismissing Bangladesh opener Najmul Hossain Shanto on the first ball. Apart from captain Litton Das (41) and Shakib Al Hasan (29), it was an overall poor batting show from Bangladesh as well. At one point it looked India will cruise to a win with the opponents down to 136 for the loss of nine wickets with a target of 187.
However, it was not to be as Mehidy Hasan stood in their way, helped by a bout of poor fielding and missed catches, most notably by K L Rahul, that ultimately gave him the confidence to pull the match from the jaws of India for a famous win.
