Mushfiqur Rahim hit an unbeaten 60 off 43 balls as Bangladesh beat India in the first Twenty20 match in the pollution-hit Delhi for the first time. The Tigers had not won in their previous eight T20 meetings with India. Chasing 149 to win, Rahim played some exquisite strokes as he scored a fourth T20 half-century to help his team reach 154-3 with three balls to spare. Rahim smacked eight fours and a six, adding 60 runs for the third wicket with Soumya Sarkar (39) to guide the chase after India, which was put into bat, reached 148-6.
Sarkar scored 39 off 35 and stabilized the innings after Bangladesh lost Liton Das early. Sarkar put on 46 runs with Mohammad Naim (26) for the second wicket. Naim holed out off Yuzvendra Chahal (1-24). Rahim took over and displayed great control to set up Bangladesh's record-making victory.
India was left with regrets, especially when Krunal Pandya dropped Rahim at midwicket off Chahal in the 18th over. "Nothing like beating India in India, so this means a lot to me," Rahim said. "We wanted to drag the game deep and target the pacers late on." With many regulars rested, including skipper Virat Kohli, India lacked options toward the end of Bangladesh's innings.
Earlier, the hosts struggled with a sub-par score. "It was a defendable score but we made mistakes on the field. They put us under pressure right from the start when we were batting," stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma said. "Our team is a bit inexperienced so they will learn from that."
Sharma was out lbw cheaply. Opener Shikhar Dhawan (41) did hold one end together but India lost wickets at regular intervals. Lokesh Rahul (15) played a poor shot just when he was getting set. Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer (22) added 34 runs, but the latter holed out just after the halfway mark in the Indian innings.
The big blow came when Dhawan was run out after a misunderstanding with Rishabh Pant in the 15th over. Pant, with 27 off 26 balls, then anchored the innings in the latter overs as India accelerated with 53 runs off the last five overs. The second T20 in the three-match series is at Rajkot on Nov. 7.
