Despite some jitters, Bangladesh went over the line pretty comfortably in 42.5 overs with Islam (94 off 90 balls) defending the Indian charge with an engaging innings.
However, it was Maruf who kickstarted India’s poor day with a superb opening spell. He took 4 for 41. The pacer found some bounce and swing upfront to reduce India to 13 for 3 inside seven overs. Openers Adarsh Singh, Arshin Kulkarni and captain Uday Saharan returned without troubling the scorers much.
But Musheer and Abhishek shared an 84-run alliance for the seventh-wicket to lift India from a precarious 61 for 6. They batted quite fluently and Musheer brought up his fifty off 59 balls with a single to long-off. Abhishek clobbered Sheikh Jibon for a huge six over long-off to bring his fifty in 64 balls.
However, both the batters departed without building further as India sank to a modest total.
In reply, Bangladesh too made a shaky start and were 34 for 3 in 9.4 overs. But Ariful found an able ally in Ahrar Amin (44 off 101 balls) as the duo milked 138 runs for a stubborn fourth-wicket stand to peg India back.
Ariful was a bit circumspect to begin with but once he found his range, the right-hander played some delectable shots around the park to deny Indian bowlers for a long while. Bangladesh lost a couple of more wickets towards the end, but that only created artificial excitement.
