In the first ODI, two days ago, Bangladesh won the toss, batted first, and put up a very competitive score from ODI standards. India’s batsmen were equal to the task and went about chasing 273 but rain enforced the D/L rule in between. Regardless, India won the match without any hiccup. In the second ODI yesterday, Bangladesh won the toss again and asked India to bat first. Rains came again and the teams waited in their dressing rooms. When the weather cleared, the contest became a 41-over game. In their ranks Bangladesh had two debutants, both of whom proved their worth. Taskin Ahmed was the new bowler, who disabled the supposedly mighty Indian batting machine by bringing the batsmen down to their knees as the entire innings folded for 105 in 25.3 overs. No bowler, on his international debut, could have asked for more. Though the 106-run target looked easy, India sprang a totally unexpected surprise on Bangladesh batsmen in the form of a killer-bird called Stuart Binny. He bowled 28 deliveries and yielded just 4 runs while rampaging the Bangla batting with a vengeance. Binny’s 6 wickets resulted in Bangladesh getting out for 58 and yielding a 47-run victory to India. For the home side, another debutant, a batsman named Mithun Ali, stood like a rock amidst the disaster. Finally, he too fell to Binny but not before contributing nearly half the Bangladesh total.
India came to bat in a rain-curtailed 41-over match and lost Ajinkya Rahane on the second ball of the innings. Joining Robin Uthappa in the middle, Cheteshwar Pujara began struggling straightaway but the two batsmen carried the score to 26 runs, before Uthappa gave a dream start to Taskin Ahmed in his first ever ODI. Ahmed bowled a short ball to Uthappa, who mistimed the shot for an easy catch at mid-off. Next man, Ambati Rayudu lasted only seven balls, before Ahmed trapped him LBW as his second ODI wicket. Skipper Raina joined Pujara and the two added 27 for the fourth wicket. Pujara’s labored test-match like innings was also cut short by Taskin Ahmed. Though Raina played reasonably well, wickets kept falling regularly with Taskin Ahmed dominating the Indian batsmen. A 13-ball 17 run cameo by Umesh Yadav somehow helped India go past 100.
When Bangladesh began chasing 106, the balance appeared tilted heavily in their favor. India began with Mohit Sharma, who was greeted by Tamim Iqbal for the first-ball four. But on Sharma’s next delivery, Iqbal was caught behind trying a rash stroke that took a thick edge off his bat. Though the other opener, Mithun Ali was making his ODI debut, he displayed a fine temperament. Sharma claimed his second wicket in his next over and innings’ third, when Anamul Haque poked to a short delivery and Rahane at point took an easy catch. Captain Musfiqur Rahim joined Mithun Ali and carried the score to 44/2 at the end of 11 overs. With 62 required in 30 overs and 8 wickets intact, Bangladesh almost had the game in their bag. Stuart Binny had bowled one maiden over earlier but his intents were not known until then.
Suddenly the match began to turn on its head as Binny came to bowl the 12th over of the innings and his second. With the fourth ball, he induced a gloved leg-side-edge from Rahim and Saha gleefully accepted the catch. In his third over, Binny removed Mithun Ali and next man Mahmudullah. From 44/2, Bangladesh were reduced to 52/5 but more was yet to come. In innings’ 15th over, Sharma dismissed Shakib Al Hasan and Ziaur Rahman. Binny claimed Mashrafe Mortaza in the 16th, at the end of which Bangladesh tottered at 56/8. Binny, who had already bowled 24 deliveries came back in the 17th over to bowl just 4 more balls. With his second delivery Binny bowled Nasir Hossain and finished his massacre of Bangla batsmen with his fourth, when he clean bowled Al-Amin Hossain to return with amazing bowling figures of 4.4-2-4-6.
The Binny show brought an end to one of the most unpredictable outcomes in ODI history. The teams were required to share 82 overs between them because of rain curtailment but together they only consumed 43.1 and 20 wickets fell in the process. As for India, they clinched the series with a 2-0 lead and Binny was the obvious choice for the Player-of-the-Match award.
