Hridoy’s maiden ODI century guides BD to 228 against India

NN Online:

Towhid Hridoy smashed his maiden ODI tonne in Bangladesh’s first match in the ICC Champions Trophy against India in Dubai on Thursday.

Riding on his century, Bangladesh posted 228 in 49.4 overs despite suffering an early batting collapse that saw them reeling at 35 for five wickets.

Towhid reached his tonne off 114 balls. He hit six fours and two sixes. Towards the end of his innings, Towhid visibly struggled with a hamstring injury in his leg. He relied primarily on singles to reach his century.

Bangladesh opted to bat first, winning the toss, but failed to build a good start. Three of their top five batters failed to reach a double-digit total, with two of them suffering a duck each.

They lost the first wicket in the first over when Soumya Sarkar fell prey to Mohammad Shami for a duck. The left-handed batter tried to drive to the mid-off but only managed an inside edge to the Indian wicketkeeper.

In the next over, Bangladesh’s captain Najmul Hossain Shanto fell for another duck. He faced only two balls. He failed to drive Harsit Rana’s outswinging delivery.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mushfiqur Rahim also failed to produce good batting. Miraz scored 5, and Mushfiqur suffered a first-ball duck. Opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim fell for 25.

After losing five for 35 inside the ninth over of the innings, Towhid and Jaker steadied the innings for Bangladesh, forging a formidable stand of 154 runs in the sixth wicket stand, facing 206 deliveries.

Towhid was dismissed at 100 in the last over. While he was the best batter for Bangladesh, Jaker Ali was right behind him, scoring 68 off 114.

For India, right-arm pacer Mohammad Shami bagged five wickets for 53 runs. It was the sixth five-for of Shami in ODIs, first against Bangladesh. Harshit Rana took three wickets, while Axar Patel scalped two.