Mirpur: Ajinkya Rahane anchored his innings to perfection in the company of 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 sky opened up leading to a nearly two-hour delay. This led to a revised target of 150 in 26 overs courtesy of 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 quick-fire 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.
Nevertheless it was an impressive comeback for Uthappa in India colours after a break of six years. He seemed to carry his IPL form into international cricket, hitting three fours and as many sixes.
The best shot was the one when he reached to the pitch of a flighted delivery from Shakib al Hasan to loft him effortlessly over extra cover. The other two were hit off left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak and medium pacer Ziaur Rahaman.
Rahane was also a delight to watch as he stepped out to lift Mortaza over extra cover and then pulled him towards mid-wicket for a boundary.
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 admirably 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.
Scoreboard
Bangladesh: T. Iqbal c Saha b Yadav 0, A. Haque c Rayudu b Rasool 44, M. Haque c Saha b Yadav 6, M. Rahim c Rahane b Rasool 59, S. Hasan c & b Raina 52, Mahmudullah b Mishra 41, N. Hossain c Rahane b Mishra 22, Z. Rahman c Raina b Yadav 2, M. Mortaza b Patel 18, A. Razzak n.o 16, A. Hossain n.o 1, Extras: (3lb, 8w) 11. Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 272.
FoW: 1-5, 2-35, 3-87, 4-134, 5-199, 6-229, 7-234, 8-235, 9-267.
Bowling: M. Sharma 5.4-1-23-0, U. Yadav 9-0-48-3, R. Uthappa 0.2-0-0-0, A. Patel 10-0-59-1, A. Mishra 10-0-55-2 , P. Rasool 10-0-60-2 , S. Raina 5-0-24-1.
India (Revised target 150 in 26 overs): R. Uthappa lbw Shakib Al Hasan 50, A. Rahane c Rahman b Mortaza 64, C. Pujara lbw Shakib Al Hasan 0, A. Rayudu n.o 16, Suresh Raina n.o 15, Extras: (8w), Total (3 wkts, 24.5 overs)
FoW: 1-99, 2-100, 3-135.
Bowling: M. Mortaza 5-0-25-1, A. Hossain 5-0-32-0 , S. Hasan 6-0-27-2 (1w), A. Razzak 5-0-34-0, Z. Rahman 1-0-9-0, Mahmudullah 2.5-0-26-0.
