Liton, Tamim create history
There were records galore for Bangladesh as openers Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das whipped up a storm with twin tons at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in the third and final against Zimbabwe ODI yesterday.
The hosts were looking for a perfect finish with a whitewash that would give their captain, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, a memorable send-off. And ever since Zimbabwe skipper Sean Williams surprisingly opted to field on a rather flat track, Tamim and especially Liton took a toll on the visiting bowlers and ensured the crowd stayed on their feet throughout Bangladesh's innings.
Tamim and Liton broke almost all the batting records for Bangladesh as the duo posted 292 of Bangladesh's 322 runs for the first wicket -- the Tigers' best opening stand and the highest partnership for any wicket in ODIs.
Before rain interrupted the game for more than two-and-a-half hours, Liton and Tamim broke Bangladesh's 21-year-old record ODI opening stand of 170 runs between Shahriar Hossain and Mehrab Hossain.
Liton, who struck his third ODI century and his second in the series after a magnificent 126 in the first ODI, went on to grab Bangladesh's highest individual ODI score. He surpassed Tamim Iqbal's 158 just one game after it was recorded.
Liton was eventually dismissed after a magnificent 176 off 142 balls, smiting a record eight sixes, the most by a Bangladeshi batsman in an ODI innings.
At the other end, Tamim joined the party and remained unbeaten for a 109-ball 128.
The hurricane 292-run stand came to an end with Liton's departure, but by then it had already become the third-best opening-wicket partnership and the sixth-best in terms of runs for any wicket in one-day cricket history.
West Indies batsmen John Campbell and Shai Hope hold the record partnership for the opening wicket with their 365-run stand against Ireland in 2019, followed by the 304-run stand between Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in 2018.
During the course of their whirlwind knocks, Tamim and Liton also surpassed the highest partnership for any wicket for Bangladesh, eclipsing Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyad's 224-run stand in the 2017 Champions Trophy against New Zealand in Cardiff.
Liton did find slices of luck during his masterclass, being dropped three times after reaching his century as some sloppy fielding from the visitors saw him survive scares on 102, 122 and 144.
The best part of the partnership was how Tamim complemented Liton, even congratulating him with a hug when the right-hander went past 158 with a boundary.
Liton now has two centuries in the past three matches while Tamim got a second consecutive century in the format for the second time in his career and extended his Bangladesh record tally of ODI centuries to 13.
Tamim had previously gotten back-to-back hundreds against Pakistan in Dhaka in April 2015, scoring 132 in the first ODI and an unbeaten 116 in the second.
From the way Liton was taking on the Zimbabwe attack, it looked at one point that the wicketkeeper-batsman could well register the first ever ODI double hundred for the Tigers. That did not happen in the end and it seemed that Tamim was the most disappointed after Liton's dismissal.
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