Fast bowler Nahid Rana grabbed a maiden five-wicket haul as Bangladesh held Pakistan to a new low in white-ball cricket with a dominant eight-wicket win in the first ODI on Wednesday.
Rana picked up 5-24, and captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz took 3-29 through his off-spin, as Pakistan was blown away for 114 all-out in 30.4 overs. It was Pakistan’s lowest-ever ODI score against Bangladesh, eclipsing the previous mark of 161 during a 62-run loss at the 1999 World Cup.
Recalled opener Tanzid Hasan, preferred over Soumya Sarkar, galloped Bangladesh to 115-2 in only 15.1 overs with a blazing unbeaten 67 off 42 balls.
Four Pakistan batters couldn´t make a mark in their ODI debuts after the team decided to leave out Saim Ayub and Babar Azam for the series after a disappointing T20 World Cup. Bangladesh had missed out the tournament due to security concerns of its government after the International Cricket Council refused to switch its games from India to Sri Lanka.
Rana made a big impact through his nippy short balls after debutants Sahibzada Farhan (27) and Maaz Sadaqat (18) had made a decent start of 41 in the power play.
Rana flattened Pakistan´s inexperienced top-order with five wickets in his first five overs as Farhan, Sadaqat, Pakistan T20 captain Salman Ali Agha and another debutant Shamyl Hussain (4) fell to his sharp short pitched deliveries. He then completed the top-order rout when Mohammad Rizwan drove a full-length ball and was brilliantly snapped by diving Litton Das behind the wickets as Pakistan slipped to 5-69 in the 18th over. Rana could have finished with six wickets but Bangladesh didn´t go for an lbw review against Faheem Ashraf (37) before he had scored. He also dropped a tough return low catch of the left-hander on the next ball.
Mehidy baffled the lower order by taking three wickets in quick time as Pakistan slipped to an embarrassing 9-82 before Ashraf added 32 runs for the last wicket with Abrar Ahmed, who was unbeaten on zero off 10 balls.
All the three Pakistan pace bowlers, including captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, were wayward in defending a low total with Tanzid showing plenty of aggression, hitting seven fours and five sixes. Tanzid added a rapid 82-run stand with Najmul Hossain Shanto (27) for the second-wicket and was also ruthless against the sole specialist spinner Ahmed, who returned with 0-25 in his three overs as Bangladesh cruised to victory. The second and third games will also be played in Dhaka on Friday and Sunday.