Nasir Hossain's all-round heroics help Bangladesh A defeat India A by 65 runs
Bangladesh A defeated India A by 65 runs in the second one-dayer at Bangalore today to equalise the three-match series 1-1. The hero of the match was was all-rounder Nasir Hossain who remained unbeaten on 102 to guide Bangladesh to a healthy total of 252 in their 50 overs before shining with the ball as well picking up five wickets.
Though India started their reply on a brilliant note led by skipper Unmukt Chand, a middle order collapse initiated by Nasir and Rubel Hossain, who also picked up four wickets of his own, left India way short of the target thus setting up an intriguing decider in two days time.
India A who won the opening match by a margin of 96 runs looked set to build on the confidence with Rush Kalaria dismissing opener Rony Taludkar in the very first over of the match. Fellow opening batsman Soumya Sarkar and Anamul Haque put the innings back on track with a solid 60-run partnership, but Bangladesh A went on to lose four wickets with the addition of just 22 runs.
Rishi Dhawan was the architect of the collapse picking up the wickets of Sarkar, skipper Mominul Haque and Liton Das. The Kings XI all-rounder ended up with figures of 10-1-44-3 making him the pick of the bowlers. He was well supported by leg-spinner Karn Sharma who picked up 2 wickets giving away just 40 runs.
The rest of the bowlers, however, failed to press on the advantage as Nasir notched up his third List A century. He formed useful partnerships with Das and Arafat Sunny and then negotiated with the tail brilliantly doing the bulk of the scoring as Bangladesh crossed the 250 run mark which at one stage looked improbable.
India’s top three of Chand, Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey batted aggressively and it seemed the hosts were well on their way to wrap up the series. But once again they let the game off the hook as Nasir picked up the key wickets of Chand and dangerman Suresh Raina. After the 2nd wicket partnership between Chand and Pandey which accounted for 88 runs, India A lost their remaining eight wickets for just 68 runs.
The third and final ODI will take place at the same venue (MA Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore) on September 20.
Scorecard:
Bangladesh A 252/8 (Nasir Hossain 102*, Liton Das 45); R Dhawan 3/44, Karn Sharma 2/40
India A 187 all out ( Chand 56, Pandey 36); Nasir Hossain 5/36, Rubel Hossain 4/33
Result: Bangladesh A won by 65 runs. Series tied at 1-1.