Bangladesh’s batting did not start well despite Miraj-Hridoy’s fifty

Bangladesh's batting did not start well. However, the Tigers turned around after Mehedi Hasan Miraj and Towhid Hridoy's batting. The team was also dreaming of a big total with the century partnership of the two. But the batting collapsed again after Hridoy was run out. The lower middle order batters could not even stand on the wicket. As a result, the red-green team was all out before 250.

On Wednesday (October 8), Bangladesh's innings was bundled out for 221 runs in 48.5 overs in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Captain Miraj scored 60 runs off 87 balls with a four and a six. Hridoy also played an innings of 56 runs off 85 balls. Rashid Khan and Azmatullah Omarzai took three wickets each for Afghanistan in the bowling.

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. But opener Tanjid Hasan Tamim could not take advantage of the opportunity to bat. In the fourth over of the innings, the left-handed batsman caught Afghan pace all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai's off-stump delivery behind the wicket. He scored 10 runs with 2 boundaries in 10 balls.

Former captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto also could not last long after being reduced to three. Shanto became a fool with the first ball of the sixth over from Azmatullah. While driving, this top-order batsman caught Afghan captain Hasmatullah Shahidi at mid-off. Before returning to the dressing room, the left-handed batsman scored 2 runs in 5 balls.

After losing 2 wickets for 25 runs, Saif Hasan and Towhid Hridoy took control of the team. Saif made a great start on debut. However, he lost patience at the end of the power play. In the 12th over, Nangealia Kharothi played a big shot and was caught by Rashid Khan near the boundary. The opener scored 26 runs off 37 balls before returning to the dressing room.

Then Miraj and Hridoy added 101 runs for the fourth wicket. Hridoy reached his 10th career fifty and third consecutive ODI fifty off 75 balls. Before today's fifty, Hridoy had also scored fifties in the last two ODIs of the Sri Lanka series last July. He could not last long after reaching this milestone. He was run out after 56 runs.

The captain is batting responsibly. He got his personal fifty on 74 balls. In total, 60 runs came from his bat. After the return of these two sets of batters, Bangladesh lost their way again. Zaker, who failed in T20Is, could not break this cycle even in ODIs. He returned after scoring 10 runs off 16 balls.

Another wicketkeeper-batsman, Nurul Hasan Sohan, followed Zaker's path. He scored 7 runs in 14 balls. The irresponsible batting of these two put the team in danger. In the end, Bangladesh were all out after scoring 221 runs thanks to 17 runs from Tanjim Shakib and 11 runs from Tanvir Islam.