 "Asia Cup: Mehidy Hasan, Shanto hit centuries; break records for Bangladesh")
Bangladesh were down and out in the first match of the Asia Cup and needed a really strong performance to fight back from the five-wicket loss against Sri Lanka in their tournament opener. They tampered with their batting line-up and it came out as a great call by the team management as they managed to score 334/5 in thier 50 overs against Bangladesh in match four of the Asia Cup 2023 at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan.
Promoted to open the batting, Mehidy Hasan Miraz hit his second ODI century while Najmul Hossain Shanto continued his good form to hit his second ODI century as well. Miraz, along with his opening partner Mohammad Naim, added 60 for the first wicket to put Bangladesh on a nice pedestal to take the innings forward.
Highest Third-Wicket Partnership
Though two quick wickets fell, the spin-bowling all-rounder was not deterred from his resolve to keep batting. Shanto, the top scorer from the last game, where he scored 87, continued his good form. The duo added 215 for the third wicket, making it the highest third-wicket and fourth-highest stand for any wicket for Bangladesh in ODI history.
Two Batters Score Centuries in One Match for Bangladesh
More From This Section
This was also the fifth occasion when two Bangladesh batters scored a century in one innings of an ODI match. Previously, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim in 2015 against Pakistan, Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah in 2017 against New Zealand, Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes in 2018 against Zimbabwe, and Litton Das and Tamim Iqbal in 2020 against Zimbabwe achieved this feat.
Highest Individual Scores for Mehidy
For Mehidy Miraz, it was his best-ever performance as a batter in limited-overs cricket, eclipsing his previous performance of a hundred against India. Mehidy scored 112, which is now his highest individual score in ODIs. The all-rounder also achieved the feat of getting past 1,000 runs in ODIs. With 88 wickets to his name, he will soon join the long list of players with 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in ODIs to their name. So far, only Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza and Mohammad Rafique have achieved this unique feat for the Tigers.
Third Highest ODI Total for Bangladesh
Thanks to Mehidy’s 112, 104 from Shanto and a little flourish at the end from newcomer Shamim Hossain, Bangladesh managed to reach 334/5, which is now their third-highest total in ODIs. Incidentally, their first and second-highest total of 349/6 and 338/8 respectively against Ireland, came in 2023 only, making it a high-grossing year for Bangladesh batting.
What Happened at the Toss?
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and elected to bat in their Group B match of the Asia Cup against Afghanistan here on Sunday.
Bangladesh made three changes to their playing XI, which lost to Sri Lanka in the opening match. They brought in Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain and Hasan Mahmud in place of Tanzid Hasan, Mahedi Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman.
Shakib said the decision to bat first was taken keeping in mind the wicket and the weather conditions. "It looks like a good wicket and keeping the weather in mind, it is very hot. We have three changes."