Nahid Rana’s maiden five-wicket haul helped Bangladesh bag an emphatic eight-wicket victory against Pakistan in the One Day International series opener and go 1-0 up at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, reports Daily Sun.
The hosts chased down the modest target with ease, reaching 115 for 2 in 15.1 overs. Tanzid Hasan Tamim led the charge with a blazing 67 off 42 balls, while Najmul Hossain Shanto added 27. Saif Hassan fell early for four, and Litton Kumar Das remained unbeaten on three as the Tigers wrapped up the chase in dominant fashion.
The foundation for the win was laid early by Nahid Rana’s extraordinary bowling, which saw Pakistan bowled out for just 114 — their lowest ODI total against Bangladesh, surpassing the previous low of 161 set in the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
Nahid produced a fiery spell that ripped through Pakistan’s top-order, dismissing the opposition’s first five batters — a first in Bangladesh’s ODI history. He removed Sahibzada Farhan (27), Shamyl Hussain (four), Maaz Sadaqat (18), Mohammad Rizwan (10), and Salman Agha (five), reducing Pakistan to 69 for five and triggering a full-scale collapse.
The right-arm pacer finished with brilliant figures of five for 24 in seven overs, supported by captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s three wickets and one each from Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman. A late resistance from Faheem Ashraf (37) was too little to stop the rout.
Nahid’s performance also marked a breakthrough in his young ODI career. He had taken only five wickets across his first five matches, but in his sixth game, he struck five times within his first five overs.
He is now only the second Bangladeshi to claim a five-wicket haul against Pakistan in ODIs, following Mustafizur’s five for 75 in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
It was also the first five-for by a Bangladeshi pacer in Mirpur in nearly 11 years, the last being Mustafizur’s back-to-back five-wicket hauls against India in 2015. On home soil, the most recent five-for by a Bangladeshi paceman came in 2023, when Hasan Mahmud took five for 32 against Ireland in Sylhet.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
