Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman scripted one of the great ODI heists to seal Bangladesh victory in an action-packed low-scoring thriller against India.

The pair added 51 runs to win for the last wicket, only the fourth time a half-century stand for the 10th wicket has won an ODI, but there were plenty of thrills even before the denouement.

Still, the best place to start is at the end, with Mehidy batting superbly to farm the strike and take the runs on offer and Mustafizur holding his nerve when he did have to face, until a fraught final few balls in which the game descended into chaos.

The pair joined forces with 10.3 overs left, and Bangladesh in danger of letting slip a commanding position. Shakib Al Hasan and Ebadot Hossain had shared nine wickets to keep India to 186, and Bangladesh had battled to 128-4 in response, before collapsing to 136-9, their hopes all but extinguished. The collapse began with two wickets in two balls, Mahmudullah pinned lbw by Shardul Thakur and Mushfiqur Rahim bowled by Mohammed Siraj and continued through a two-wicket over for ODI debutant Kuldeep Sen – including a hit wicket dismissal for Ebadot, pushed back on his crease and treading on his stumps.

Somehow, both wickets and the asking rate became an issue. By the time the ninth wicket fell, Bangladesh were scoring at less than 3.50 runs per over and needed nearly fives. Mustafizur punched his second ball off the back foot through cover to bring to an end a streak of 105 balls without a boundary, but even the most optimistic Bangladesh fan wouldn’t have dreamed of what was to follow.

The next over, the hope began to grow. Mehidy, a useful No.8 batter, threw his bat twice with success at Kuldeep, reaping a pair of sixes, before nudging a single to keep strike. All of a sudden, Bangladesh were back ahead of the rate. Two boundary-less overs followed, though Mehidy did at least keep strike. He survived a drop by KL Rahul, unable to settle under a skier, and then cracked 15 runs off the next over, which began with a shoulder-high knuckle-ball no-ball from Deepak Chahar and ended with a misfield on the rope as India’s nerves began to show.

They had a full over at Mustafizur to target, but were unable to break through, the No.11 emboldened enough to glance one down to the fine-leg fence. Mehidy was brought back on strike and cut Chahar through third for another boundary, before yet another no-ball was pulled for a single, bringing Bangladesh within two runs and with a free hit to face. More drama followed, with Mustafizur unable to make contact with the re-bowled delivery. He then survived a direct hit on the single that levelled the scores, with Mehidy lofting the winning single next ball. Cue pandemonium.

The finish was special, but what preceded it wasn’t bad either, with the game slaloming along as each side tried and largely failed to combat a tough surface. There was some exceptional fielding, with Virat Kohli the victim of a catch that left him stunned before delivering a jaw-dropper of his own, and KL Rahul playing a middle-overs masterclass from No.5, 73 at better than a run a ball when none of his teammates could make it to 30. He was a bystander as India lost four wickets for four runs, and could only somewhat repair the damage, and when Litton Das, on captaincy debut, cracked 41 opening the batting, it seemed as if a comfortable Bangladesh victory was on its way.

What eventuated was far, far from comfortable, and will be remembered all the more fondly for it.