Former Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim guided his team to an emphatic 7-wicket win over India in the first T20I of the three-match series, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
The experienced wicketkeeper-batsman paced his innings brilliantly to remain unbeaten on 60 off 43 balls to help his team beat India for the first time in a T20I. Needing four runs off the last over, skipper Mahmudullah finished the match off the third delivery with a six off debutant Shivam Dube.
India were in with more a chance of winning the match, with Bangladesh needing 22 runs off the last two overs. But the penultimate over by pacer Khaleel Ahmed went for 18 runs, with Rahim hitting four consecutive boundaries to douse all Indian hopes.
The win is special for the visitors as they are without two experienced players in Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, who is serving a two-year ban by the ICC.
Earlier, Bangladesh bowlers made full use of a slow Feroz Shah Kotla pitch to restrict India to 148/6. Afif Hosain (1/11 in 3 overs) was the pick of the Bangladeshi bowlers. Shafiul Islam and Aminul Islam chipped in with two wickets apiece.
Shikhar Dhawan top scored for the Indians with a 42-ball 41. Shreyas Iyer (22) and Rishabh Pant (27) got starts but got out trying to up the scoring rate. Important cameos from Krunal Pandya (15 off 8 balls) and Washington Sundar (14 off 5 balls) towards the end of the innings allowed India to come close to the 150-run mark.
