Mirpur: Ajinkya Rahane anchored his innings to perfection in the company of comeback man Robin Uthappa and guided India to a comfortable seven-wicket victory in a rain-truncated first ODI against Bangladesh here on Sunday. Chasing a target of 273 in 50 overs, India were cruising along at 100 for one in 16.4 overs when the heavens opened up leading to a nearly two-hour delay. This lead to a revised target of 150 in 26 overs courtesy of D/L method, which India achieved with seven balls to spare.
Earlier, an inexperienced Indian attack led by fast bowler Umesh Yadav performed admirably on a flat track restricting hosts Bangladesh to 272 for nine in the first of the three-match ODI series starting here on Sunday.
Yadav grabbed three for 48 in nine overs as skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (59) and star all-rounder Shakib al Hasan (52) struck half-centuries after the former opted to make first use of the conditions.
Debutant Parveez Rasool (2/60) grabbed couple of important top-order wickets while Amit Mishra (2/55) struck twice in the rear.
With a combined ODI experience of 56 matches, Yadav (28), Amit Mishra (23) and Mohit Sharma (5), the five pronged bowling attack with two debutants in Rasool and Akshar Patel did well collectively considering the dead nature of the strip where 300 plus score was there for the taking.
Bangladesh were scratchy in the beginning with senior opener Tamim Iqbal (0) looking completely out of sorts. Umesh ended his misery with last ball of the fourth over which the left-hander edged to Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps. The ball had moved a shade and he nicked it having failed to open his account of the previous 10 deliveries.
Anamul Haque Bijoy (44) got his first couple of boundaries in the fifth over bowled by Mohit Sharma when he got one with a thick slash through third man followed by a cover drive. Mominul Haque (6) also did inspire much confidence before he tried to drive away from his body to a Yadav delivery which was gleefully pouched by Wriddhiman.
Anamul was joined by his captain Mushfiqur Rahim (59) as the duo started the repair work on a cautious note. The duo added 52 runs during their third wicket stand with Anamul getting a few boundaries. Among the two debutant spinners, Akshar Patel's (1/59) in 10 overs) first outing was certainly disappointing as he looked very flat with his execution.
