India lose ODI series despite Rohit Sharma’s quick 51 at Dhaka

Dhaka: A half-fit Rohit Sharma tried his best at the end by launching into an array of shots, but fell short off one big blow from India squaring the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Wednesday.
Needing 20 off the final over off Mustafizur Rahman, Rohit managed to reduce the gap to six off the last ball, but the left arm fast bowler hurled a full-length ball to give room for the Indian captain to hoick it for a six.
An unbeaten 51 off 28, containing 5 sixes and 3 boundaries, by Rohit suffering from a thumb injury, was not enough and Bangladesh clinched the series.
India lost the match by 5 runs after they made 266/9 in 50 overs.
Opting to bat first, Bangladesh put up a fighting total of 271/7 after they were staring at an inevitable defeat, managing only 69/6 in 19 overs.
Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel were impressive earlier in the chase after India were reduced to 65/4 in 18.3 overs. They put on 107 runs for the fifth wicket partnership.
Bangladesh’s bowlers were bang on and struck when the situation demanded to seal the series in their favour.
All the bowlers did their part, but Ebadot Hossain (3/45) and Shakib Al Hasan (2/39) were picked of the bowlers, with Mehidy Hasan Mirza also picking up two crucial wickets to add to this superlative ton early in the day.
This was an incredible series win for Bangladesh, their second successive one at home against India, seven years apart, and haven’t lost a home ODI series since October 2016
Earlier, Mehidy scored 100 off 83 balls with 8 boundaries and 4 sixes, while Mahmudullah hammered 77 off 96 balls with seven hits to the fence. Both stitched a superb 148 runs for 7th wicket after Bangladesh were rattled by Mohammad Siraj and Washinton Sundar.
Siraj picked up Anamul Haque (11) and Litton Das’ (7) wickets and then Sundar put the hosts on the mat with three wickets of Shakib Al Hasan (8), Mushfiqur Rahim (12) and Afif Hossain (0).
Umran Malik (2/58) also chipped in with a wicket of Najmul Hossain Shanto for 21.
Mahmudullah appeared to be scratchy, but played a very important role in the company of Mehidy, who raised their bars and brought Bangladesh on track.
Runs kept pouring in and despite Mahmudullah’s departure in the slog overs, the hosts were still making merry in the slog overs.
As many as 68 runs came off their blazing bats in the last 5 overs, with Mehidy going on a rampage, also aided by a cameo from Nasum Ahmed 18 no off 11) who smashed 2 boundaries and a six.
Bangladesh captain Das had opted to bat after winning the toss.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 271/7 (Mehidy Hasan 100*, Mahmudullah 77; Washington Sundar 3-37) beat India 266/8 (Shreyas Iyer 82, Axar Patel 56, Rohit Sharma 51*; Ebadot Hossain 3-45) by 5 runs.
Dhaka, Dec 7 (UNI) Injuries continued to hamper India’s tour of Bangladesh after three players were confirmed to miss the third and final ODI of the series.
Skipper Rohit Sharma was among the three players confirmed by head coach Rahul Dravid to miss the third ODI against Bangladesh. Dravid stated that Rohit would miss the third ODI and head to Mumbai to consult an expert.
A call on his participation in the Test series would only be taken after that.
“Rohit will certainly miss the next game, fly back to Bombay, consult with an expert and see how it is and whether he can come back for the Test matches or not, I’m not sure. It’s too soon to say that.”
Deepak Chahar, who only bowled three overs in the second ODI in Dhaka, was also ruled out of the final ODI as was Kuldeep Sen, who missed the match on Wednesday.
“All three of them won’t play the next game for sure,” Dravid said after the game which India lost narrowly after Rohit’s late heroics. (BD Naraayannkar – UNI)