Towhid hits ton as Bangladesh reach 228 after 35-5 against India / Photo: © AFP
Towhid hits ton as Bangladesh reach 228 after 35-5 against India
Towhid Hridoy struck his first ODI century and with Jaker Ali helped Bangladesh reach 228 from 35-5 against India as the two teams opened their Champions Trophy campaign on Thursday in Dubai.
India's pace spearhead Mohammed Shami returned figures of 5-53 after Bangladesh elected to bat first but lost half their side in the ninth over.
Towhid, who made 100, and Jaker, who hit 68, put on 154 runs to boost the total, albeit with some assistance from sloppy Indian fielding including two dropped catches.
Towhid, who faced cramps later in his knock, raised his hundred and acknowledged the cheers of the fans at a largely empty stadium before he departed and the innings folded in 49.4 overs.
Shami struck in the first over to get left-handed Soumya Sarkar caught behind for a five-ball duck.
Harshit Rana combined from the other end to get skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto caught at cover-point for a duck with Virat Kohli taking a good catch over his head.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz could not last long as Shami struck for the second time as Shubman Gill took a sharp catch at slip.
Shami's return from injury in India's white-ball triumph over England at home boosted the team in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out of this eight-nation tournament with a back injury.
Bangladesh lost half their side in the ninth over when left-arm spinner Axar Patel struck twice in two balls to send Tanzid Hasan, for 25, and Mushfiqur Rahim, for zero, trudging back to the pavilion.
It could have been six down and Axar with a hat-trick had skipper Rohit Sharma not dropped a catch at first slip to hand Jaker Ali a reprieve on nought.
Rohit slapped his hand on the grass and stood up with a wry smile to apologise to Axar for the slip.
Jaker, who survived another reprieve on 24 when wicketkeeper KL Rahul missed a stumping, and Towhid, who was dropped on 23 by Hardik Pandya at mid-off, combined to thwart the Indian charge.
Jaker reached his second ODI fifty and Towhid raised his half ton with a boundary.
Jaker finally fell to Shami but Towhid kept up the fight until his 118-ball knock ended with six fours and two sixes.
India remain title favourites and have Pakistan and New Zealand as the other two teams in Group A.
P.Johnston--TNT
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