Nasir Hossain single-handedly inspired Bangladesh A to a 65-run win over India A yesterday as the three-match unofficial one-day international bilateral series between the two countries are poised for an intense decider tomorrow.
Rony Talukder (0), Soumya Sarker (24), Anamul Haque (34), Mominul Haque (3) and Sabbir Rahman (1) made another “nothing” out of their tour so far and coming in at 82 for 5 in the 19th over, Nasir saved the skin of his national teammates by striking an unbeaten hundred, his third in List A matches.
Nasir's defiant unbeaten 96-ball 102, that included 12 fours and a six, helped the visitors post 252 for eight before the off-spinner played tormentor-in-chief, picking five for 36 to demolish the home side's chase at 187 in the second ODI at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Initially there was a sense of deja vu for Bangladesh A as they suffered a collapse identical to the one in the first ODI on Wednesday. Karn Sharma struck twice to reduce them to 82 for five in the 19th over. The onus of pulling them out of misery once again fell on the shoulders of wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das and Nasir, who had added a fighting 120-run stand to give India A a genuine scare in the previous encounter.
The duo once again showed the level of awareness to the situation, that the top-order lacked, stitching together another innings-defining 70-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
The India A chase looked on course when they were 119 for one in the 28th over, with Unmukt Chand on 56, and even when Suresh Raina smacked Rubel Hossain for a six three overs later with the hosts needing 116 runs from 19 overs.
But four wickets fell inside the next six overs as Rubel and Nasir took turns to dismantle the Indian line-up and effectively derail what looked like a straightforward chase.
Karun Nair (4), Sanju Samson (0), Rishi Dhawan (0) and Sharma (0) fell in quick succession to leave Gurkeerat Singh, India A's best performer in the first ODI, with 96 runs to chase from 78 deliveries and just two wickets in hand. Rush Kalaria became Nasir's fifth victim and Al-Amin Hossain wrapped up the India innings with the dismissal of Gurkeerat with more than seven overs to spare.