Bangladesh A vs India A Second One-dayer played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Bangladesh A 252 /8 (Nasir Hossain 102*, Liton K Das 45, Anamul Haque 34, Soumya Sarkar 24, R Dhawan 3/44 and KV Sharma 2/40) beat India A 187 All Out ( UBT Chand  56, MK Pandey 36, Gurkeerat Singh 34 , Nasir Hossain 5/36 and Rubel Hossain 4/33) by 65 runs.

Elegant and aggressive Nasir Hossain batted brilliantly and bowled with venom and verve in spearheading the wounded tigers winning the do or die second One-dayer and squaring the series 1-1. Put into bat Bangladesh could post a fighting score of 252/8 principally from Nasir’s brilliant unbeaten 102 and a solid 45 by Liton. India was sailing smoothly at 119/1 till Rubel and Nasir combined striking deadly blows one after another.

India A succumbed to 187 all out in the 43 over. Bangladesh A won by 65 runs after losing the first match by 96 runs. Nasir steered team out of troubled water from a precarious state of 82/5 scoring an unbeaten stoke full 102 and then when India A was looking good he sunk them taking 5/36 with his accurate off spinners. Rubel Hossain and Liton also made very useful contributions. Rubel gave useful support to Nasir at the twilight stage of Bangladesh batting and also allied with Nasir in India hunting with pacey haul of 4/33.

Liton steadied the rocking boat of Bangladesh innings with a solid 45 and then went on grabbing 5 scalps from behind (2 catches and three stampings.) With honors, even the third ODI is expected to create huge interest .Bangladesh A is strongly back in contention.

Bangladesh A was expected all along to perform admirably in the series .The loss of the first ODI by a huge margin was not really expected from a team studded with national players and top performers in international level in recent times .Yet they lost failing to deal with strong India A contingent .Bowling was wayward and lacked penetration. Top order batting was spineless. Bangladesh definitely learned from the mistakes. Put into bat in the second match top order again struggled. Rony was gone for a duck in the first over.

 Edgy Soumya and Anamaul tried to fight out. Soumya could not utilize two dropped chances. Anamul got out after playing sensibly. Mominul again failed to do justice to his reputation. Sabir unnecessarily danced down the wicket. Bangladesh was tottering at 82/5. In came Liton and Nasir together again on a rescue mission yet again. Liton was taking charge and Nasir was consolidating. But this time Liton left after scoring 45. At 6/152 everything was left to warrior Nasir who bravely commanded the tiger squad left at his disposal.

Arafat Sunny and Rubel gave admirable support. Nasir played a magical innings of unbeaten 102 studded with 12 strikes across the fence and one over it. Rubel aided Nasir add unbroken 40 runs partnership in the 9 th wicket. A score of 252/8 looked all but competitive.

India A started comfortably although they lost MA Agarwall a bit early. But skipper Chand and MK Pandey were looking solid. At 119/1 India “A” appeared to be cruising till Mominul brought his tramp card Nasir alongside Rubel who was bowling fast on the day. Nasir removed Chand at 119 and then within 35 runs India A lost 5 more to hostile bowling of Rubel and deadly accurate Nasir.

India A lost their way at 7/154. From there on it was uphill task, which Indian tail could not accomplish. India was all out for 187 conceding a defeat by 65 runs. Nasir took five wickets, including those of Unmukt Chand and Suresh Raina, to make the win comfortable in the end. Rubel grabbed 4/36.

 Another outstanding feature of the match was the resolve that Bangladesh A demonstrated throughout the match. They did not give up at any stage of the match. From 82/5 they rallied back to a fighting score riding on Liton and Nasir. Then again when India was crushing at 119/1 Bangladesh kept on fighting, hoping against the hope.  This win will definitely make Bangladesh a big shot in the arm.

The third ODI will witness a bitter contest we believe. Bangladesh need to review its top order batting option. Liton and Mominul failed again. Soumya looked edgy. Perhaps playing Shubhagato at late middle order and promoting Liton in top order may be a solution. Rony may be replaced. On the day two heroes of the first match Gurkeerat Singh and S Arvind did not get any wicket meaning that Bangladesh did their home works against them.

India A may think they were a bit complacent. But there cannot be any doubt that they lost to a far better team on the day. Bangladesh A will get better and better match after match as they acclimatize. It is only a matter of time that brilliant Soumya and consistent Mominul will turn up with a classic batting performance. They are too good to fail all the time. Rubel and Al Amin will tune better and Nasir has already become the tormentor.  He started brilliantly his career as ideal finisher in the mode of Lance Cruiser and Mike Bevan. But lost his way a bit. Mashrafe has rekindled his flame since World Cup.  Nasir is now turning into Mr dependable. The third ODI will definitely witness mouthwatering contest.

The two matches so far has proved to be very useful for Liton, Nasir and Rubel. Trust the others like Soumya, Mominul and Anamul will get back to tune soon. Al Amin was a bit rusty in his first match after a while. Bangladesh can only get better from here. India will also not die wondering. The third ODI will definitely witness mouthwatering contest.

BDST: 0851 HRS, SEP 19, 2015
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