Bangladesh beat India in first T20

Mushfiqur Rahim hit an unbeaten half-century to power Bangladesh to their first-ever Twenty20 international victory over India in pollution-hit New Delhi yesterday. Mushfiqur made 60 to anchor Bangladesh’s chase of 149 as the tourists achieved their target with three balls to spare. They won by seven wickets to lead the three-match series 1-0.Bowlers Shafiul Islam and Aminul Islam claimed two wickets each to play a key part in Bangladesh winning their first T20 against India in nine attempts. The Indian capital has been blanketed by smog with authorities saying air pollution had reached “emergency” levels, with schools closed and other restrictions imposed.But it was business as usual at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground with Bangladesh restricting the hosts to 148 for six after electing to bowl first. The tourists were in trouble at 54 for two when Soumya Sarkar, who made 39, and Mushfiqur put on a crucial 60-run stand for the third wicket.Soumya was bowled by paceman Khaleel Ahmed but Mushfiqur survived a dropped chance at 38 to hit four consecutive boundaries off Ahmed to put Bangladesh ahead. Skipper Mahmudullah Riyad joined Mushfiqur at the crease and brought up the win with a six off debutant all-rounder Shivam Dube. He made an unbeaten 15.India lost early wickets including skipper Rohit Sharma who was trapped leg before wicket for nine off Shafiul in the first over of the innings. Aminul then struck twice to rattle the opposition top-order with KL Rahul, who made 15, and Shreyas Iyer, who scored 22, letting go of their starts.Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan made 41 with three sixes but returned to the pavilion after being run out as India slumped further. India’s stand-in captain Rohit Sharma admitted that mistakes on the field were a big factor behind the loss “Not to take the credit away from Bangladesh. They put us under pressure right from the start when we were batting. It was a defendable score, but we made mistakes on the field,” Rohit said. India were without their star bowler Jasprit Bumrah who is recuperating from an injury, while regular captain Virat Kohli has been rested. “The guys are a bit inexperienced, and they can learn from that and perhaps not repeat the mistakes the next time,” Rohit said.India made a number of erroneous DRS calls during the Bangladesh innings. The problem was apparent in the 10th over bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal when India missed out on a successfull review call of an LBW decision that went Mushfiqur’s way. They also wasted a review on a caught behind appeal.Mushfiqur was given another lease of life in the 18th over when Krunal Pandya dropped a regulation catch on the deep mid-wicket boundary off Chahal. The second game of the three-match series will be played in Rajkot on November 7.Pollution levels turned hazardous during the past week, putting the match in danger of being called off, but India’s cricket board felt it was too late to change the venue.Cricket-crazy fans seemed to have ignored health warnings from government agencies as a near-capacity crowd turned out to watch the first match of the series. In December 2017, two players from Sri Lanka fell ill on the pitch because of smog and play in the Test match was briefly suspended.Every winter, the megacity of 20mn people is blanketed by a poisonous smog of car fumes, industrial emissions, and smoke from stubble burning at farms in neighbouring states.