Nasir Hossain helps Bangladesh A level the series against India A

Nasir Hossain helps Bangladesh A level the series against India A: The defiant Bangladeshi A side made a strong comeback against the India A side in the 2^nd match of the 3-match One-Dayer series as they won the match comprehensively by 65 runs. Nasir was the Bangladeshi protagonist as he turned the tides single-handedly and stunned the hosts. With his exemplary all-round display he took the match away from the reigns of the Indian’s. The Unmukt Chand led Indian side came to the match with the aim of closing in the series but unfortunately they couldn’t as Hossain had some other ideas.

Chasing a target of 253 runs the Indian’s were cautious to start off the innings. Chand struggled in the beginning as the ball was moving away sharply but somehow he stuck on to the wicket. The man in red-hot form Mayank Agarwal got off to a flurry of boundaries which included enchanting cover-drives. But the Bangladeshi World Cup hero, Rubel Hossain induced edge off Agarwal’s bat when he chased a wide delivery outside off.

But then Manish Pandey and Unmukt Chand steadied the ship and suddenly it started seeming that India would run away with the match. But then the centurion with the bat Nasir Hossain once again hogged the limelight but this time not with the bat rather with the ball in hand. He out foxed Chand and broke the 2^nd wicket stand which had added 88 runs for the hosts. Soon after, Rubel’s ferocious delivery uprooted Manish Pandey’s middle stump, and then the pair of Rubel and Nasir blew away the Indian innings like a pack of cards. In a dramatic turn of events, India got bundled out for 187 runs which is hard to believe considering that at one stage they were 119-1.

Nasir took crucial wickets of Suresh Raina and Karun Nair and ended up with a fifer while Rubel scalped 4 wickets. Gurkeerat Singh, the hero of the last match couldn’t replicate his magic as he ran out of partners and was the last man to be dismissed in India’s innings. Earlier in the day, Bangladesh got off to a poor start as Rush Kalaria accounted for Rony Talukdar on the fifth ball of the visitor’s innings. Bangladeshi star Soumya Sarkar looked in imperious touch in his innings of 24 runs which included 5 glorious boundaries but Rishi Dhawan struck twice to remove him as well as Mominul Haque. And then Bangladeshi innings was put under further misery as Anamul Haque and Sabbir Rahman also got out in quick succession.

Suddenly from 60-1, the tourists were reduced to 82/5. But then arrived the hero of the match Nasir Hossain who struck a good partnership with Liton Das to keep his side’s hopes alive in the match. The pair of Das and Hossain added 70 runs for the 6^th wicket before Dhawan who looked in lethal touch outsmarted Das.

And from there on it was more of a battle between the Indian bowlers and Nasir Hossain. Hossain who has played key roles in various famous Bangladeshi wins; used his international experience to perfection and scored a gritty ton. Nasir remained unbeaten on 102 runs and his enterprising innings helped Bangladesh post a total of 252 runs on the board which proved to be a match winning one as well.

Now as the series is leveled at 1-1. The series decider will be played at the same venue that is at Bangalore. The visitors have got their tuning right which means we are all set for a mouth-watering series decider. In this match both the teams had their chances but it was Bangladesh which emerged as a better team on back of heroics of Nasir who had a perfect match as he scored century with the bat and took fifer with the white cherry in hand.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh A – 252/8 (Nasir Hossain 102*, Liton Das 45; Rishi Dhawan 3/44)

India A – 187/10 (Unmukt Chand 56, Manish Pandey 36; Nasir Hossain 5/36)

Bangladesh A won the match by 65 runs

Man of the Match – Nasir Hossain