The presentation ceremony...
Earlier in the game, Litton won the toss and elected to put runs on the board. Which went horribly wrong as Bangladesh found themselves reeling at 69/6. But their rising star, Hasan and the ever-experienced Mahmudullah stitched together a big 148-run stand that completely turned the game on its head with Hasan going on to score his maiden ODI century off the final ball of the innings. Mohammad, Malik, and Washington all bowled well in patches. But the trio of bowlers got a bit of stick in the death overs, which ruined their figures. With 272 runs to win and keep the series alive, India struggled to get out of the pitches, with the middle order left with a bit too much to do. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Patel and the ailing Rohit Sharma tried their best, but Bangladesh held on to make it 17 wins out of the last 20 games played at home. India would be pretty disappointed with that effort in the end. First, they let go of a brilliant start with the ball and ended up with a pretty big score to chase down, and then they lost early wickets as well. With the score being 65/4 at one stage, it was a brilliant 107-run stand between Shreyas Iyer and Patel that brought life back into the Indian chase. Once, Patel couldn't stay on for much longer. With the score being 65/4 at one stage, it was a brilliant 107-run stand between Shreyas Iyer and Patel that brought life back into the Indian chase. Once, Patel couldn't stay on for much longer.
The injured Indian skipper did come out to bat with 7 or so overs remaining and smashed 51* runs off 28 balls, but unluckily for him, it just wasn't enough. India will now have to go back to the drawing board and really assess what all has gone wrong in this series. Bangladesh had all the momentum going into the innings break, and they did come out all guns blazing. Ebadot Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman, their front-line bowlers, picked up a wicket each early on and that gave the hosts a bit of an advantage. Their spinners started off well, but once the Indian batters counter-attacked, they proved to be rather ineffective. Only when the stand between Shreyas Iyer and Patel was broken, that the Bangladeshi bowlers were able to press the issue and pick up wickets at regular intervals. It got really nervy at the death, but the Fizz did keep his cool on the final delivery and the hosts got over the line. Have you ever seen a finish like that? Rohit Sharma, almost pulling off one of the greatest escapes, but India have fallen agonizingly short of the target. What a fascinating game of cricket we have just witnessed, but it is the home side, Bangladesh who have got the better of India yet again by the barest of margins and have sealed a memorable series win with a game remaining as well.
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