Bangladesh secured their biggest win in terms of runs beating Ireland by 183 runs in the first ODI of the three-match series on Saturday at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
Shakib Al Hasan and debutant Towhid Hridoy played crucial innings to help Bangladesh secure their biggest win. The pair put up an impressive 135-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Shakib scoring 93 off 89 balls and Hridoy making 92 off 85 balls. Their partnership laid the foundation for a challenging total of 338/8, which proved too much for Ireland to chase down.
Towhid’s 92 is now the best innings by a Bangladeshi in debut.
Ebadot Hossain was the standout bowler for Bangladesh, taking four crucial wickets for just 42 runs in his 6.5 overs— his best performance in ODIs.
After winning the toss, Ireland sent Bangladesh to bat first aiming to restrict them to a chasable total on a sunny day.
Bangladesh started their innings with a loss as Tamim Iqbal was caught by Paul Stirling off Mark Adair for just three runs in the third over. Litton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto tried to stabilise the innings, but both fell to Andy McBrine and Curtis Campher respectively, leaving Bangladesh struggling at 81/3 in the 16th over.
However, Shakib and Towhid then took charge of the innings and put up an impressive 135-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Shakib scored a brilliant 93 off 89 balls, including nine fours, while Hridoy made 92 off 85 balls, hitting eight fours and two sixes.
Mushfiqur Rahim then came in and added quick runs to the board, scoring 44 off just 26 balls with three fours and three sixes. Taskin Ahmed and Yasir Ali also contributed with 11 and 17 runs respectively, as Bangladesh finished with a challenging total of 338/8— their highest-ever total in ODIs in their 50 overs.
For Ireland, Graham Hume was the most successful bowler, claiming four wickets for 60 runs. Mark Adair, Andy McBrine, and Campher also took a wicket each.
In their chase, Ireland got off to a decent start as opener Stephen Doheny scored 34 off 38 balls with four fours and a six.
However, the rest of the Ireland batters struggled against the Bangladeshi bowlers. Paul Stirling was dismissed by Ebadot for 22, while Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker fell to Hossain and Taskin Ahmed respectively, leaving Ireland reeling at 73/4 in the 15th over.
Curtis Campher tried to revive Ireland's innings with a quickfire 16 off 17 balls, but he was dismissed by Nasum Ahmed. George Dockrell top-scored for Ireland with 45 runs off 47 balls, hitting six fours, but he failed to get any support from the other end as Ireland kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Ebadot was the best bower for Bangladesh, taking four wickets for 42 runs. Nasum Ahmed also impressed with his spin bowling, picking up three wickets for 43 runs in his eight overs.
Ireland was eventually bowled out for just 155 runs in 30.5 overs, falling short of the target by a massive 183 runs. This was Bangladesh's biggest win in terms of runs in ODI cricket, and they will look to carry this momentum into the rest of the series.
Towhid, the debutant, won the player of the match award for his outstanding innings. But he said it hurt him as he failed to hit the ton just for eight runs.
“It's disappointing that I missed out on a century, but I'm still happy with my performance and the good start to my career,” said Towhid. “Batting with Shakib was a great experience as he gave me some valuable suggestions and inspired me. I just focused on executing my plan and it worked out well.”