Towhid Hridoy hit a maiden fighting ton, added a record partnership with Jaker Ali, but Bangladesh were beaten comfortably by six wickets in their opening match of Group A by India in the Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
Hridoy lifted Bangladesh to 228 in 49.4 overs from a precarious position of 35-5, but India chased that down in 46.3 overs on a surface that became difficult with time.
Shubman Gill smashed his eighth ODI hundred and took India home through some nervy moments in the middle of their chase.聽
After opting to bat first, Bangladesh suffered early blows in the first two overs when they lost both Soumya Sarkar and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto for noughts.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who came at four, followed them soon to further worsen the situation. When Axar Patel had both Mushfiqur Rahim鈥� the third batter in the innings to get out for a duck鈥攁nd Tanzid Hasan, who was timing the ball well up until that point in consecutive deliveries, Tigers were in disarray.
They could鈥檝e become 35-6, and Axar could have had the second hat trick in the Champions Trophy had Rohit not dropped a sitter in the first slip to hand Jaker Ali an early life.
Hridoy, too, survived when he was 24, and then Jaker got another reprieve when he was 24 as well. They both capitalised on that as they added 154 runs for the sixth wicket鈥攚hich is the highest in the Champions Trophy and for Bangladesh overall鈥攁nd batted 34.1 overs.
Rishad then made 18 off 12 balls; 17 of those came in four balls off Axar to give Bangladesh a hope of reaching 250. But he fell soon, and Hridoy was struggling with cramps as Bangladesh were restricted to a well-below-par total.
India got off to a flying start as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill added 69 runs in the first 9.4 overs before Rohit (41 off 36) miscued a delivery off Taskin Ahmed.
Bangladesh bowlers, especially Rishad, kept things tight in the next phase as India managed to put 75 runs in their next 20 overs.
Rishad got rid of Virat Kohli and Axar Patel while Mustafizur Rahman picked up Shreyas Iyer鈥檚 wicket to give Bangladesh an outside chance.
Taskin then should have had KL Rahul on nine, but Jaker returned the favour by dropping a sitter at midwicket.
Gill then added an invaluable 87 runs off 98 balls in the fifth wicket partnership with Rahul (41 off 47). He needed 125 balls to reach his hundred and remained unbeaten on 101 off 129.
Rishad, meanwhile, finished the spell with 2-34 in his 10 overs, but ultimately that didn鈥檛 make any difference in terms of the result of the match.
Bangladesh will face New Zealand on February 24 in Rawalpindi, followed by their clash with Pakistan on February 27 at the same venue.聽