Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto both scored hundreds and combined for a mammoth third-wicket partnership in the Asia Cup today (September 3), taking Bangladesh to a massive score of 334-5 in their must-win match against Afghanistan.
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Mehidy and Shanto plundered runs from the Afghanistan bowlers all around the park in Lahore. Mehidy scored 112 off 119 balls, while Shanto scored 104 off 105. In the process, they became just the fifth Bangladesh pair to score hundreds in the same ODI innings, joining Tamim Iqbal-Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan-Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes-Soumya Sarkar, and Tamim Iqbal-Litton Das.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Bangladesh got off to a better start than they did against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. They were helped by the wayward lines of the Afghanistan bowlers as they raced off to 60 in the tenth over of the innings. Towhid Hridoy was promoted to No.3 today, but he fell for a duck. Mehidy and Shanto joined hands in the 11th over with the score reading 63-2.
Opening for just the second time in his ODI career, Mehidy adapted to the new role seamlessly, ticking strike over and hitting the occasional boundary. He reached the three-figure mark in the 41st over, his second ODI hundred after the one he scored against India while batting at No.8 in Dhaka last year. Unfortunately, he retired hurt soon after as he injured his hand while hitting a six in the 43rd over.
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Shanto, who has been in tremendous form in international cricket this year, continued from where he left in Pallekele, going one step ahead of the 89 he scored there to complete his second ODI hundred. He seems to have finally cracked the code to batting at the international level. Between 2018 (the year when he made his ODI debut) and 2022, Shanto averaged 14 from 15 innings with no 50-plus scores to his name. This year, he has turned it around and how. From 13 innings, he averages 47.8 and has scored four fifties and two hundreds.
Mehidy became the ninth Bangladesh opener to score an ODI century, the third since 2019, the third in Asia Cup history, and the first in Pakistan. Shanto, on the other hand, became just the fifth Bangladesh No.4 to score an ODI hundred after Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, and Mohammad Ashraful.
Their partnership of 194 is now the sixth-highest partnership ever for any wicket by any Bangladesh pair in ODI history. For the third wicket, it is now the second-highest after Litton and Rahim’s 202-run epic stand against the same team last year.
The record partnership between Mehidy and Shanto also allowed Bangladesh to reach their third-highest total in ODIs, surpassing the 333-8 they scored against Australia in a losing cause in the 2019 World Cup.
