Mushfiqur second only to Tamim in Bangladesh's batting merit list
Mushfiqur Rahim's 144 is the second-highest individual score in Asia Cup history. © AFP
Bangladesh kicked off their Asia Cup campaign with a thumping 137-run win over Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Stadium. Opting to bat, Bangladesh were in trouble early after losing two wickets for one run and in form opener Tamim Iqbal retiring after getting struck on the hand. A third-wicket stand of 131 between Mushfiqur Rahim (144) and Mohammad Mithun (63) steadied the innings for them before some late hitting by the former helped Bangladesh finish on 261.
Lasith Malinga, who was making a return to the ODI side after a prolonged absence, was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4 for 23. Sri Lanka's chase never got going, thanks to regular fall of wickets.
Stats highlights from the opening match of Asia Cup 2018
144 by Mushfiqur Rahim is the second-highest individual score for a Bangladesh batsman in ODI cricket. Tamim Iqbal's 154 against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2009 remains the country's highest but Rahim bettered Shakib Al Hasan's unbeaten 134 against Canada in World Cup of 2007 for the highest score batting first.
Highest individual scores for Bangladesh in ODIs
Player Runs Balls Inn# Against Venue Date
Tamim Iqbal 154 138 2 Zim Bulawayo 16-Aug-09
Mushfiqur Rahim 144 150 1 SL Dubai (DSC) 15-Sep-18
Shakib Al Hasan 134* 152 1 Can St John's 28-Feb-07
Tamim Iqbal 132 135 1 Pak Dhaka 17-Apr-15
Tamim Iqbal 130* 160 1 WI Providence 22-Jul-18
1 Individual score higher than Rahim's 144 is Asia Cup history. The highest remains Virat Kohli's 148-ball 183 against Pakistan in Mirpur in the 2012 edition of the tournament. Rahim is tied on the second spot with Younis Khan who made 144 for Pakistan against Hong Kong at Colombo SSC in 2004.
55.17 Percentage of runs scored by Rahim (144) out of Bangladesh's team total of 261 all out - the single largest contribution by an individual batsman in a completed innings for Bangladesh. The previous highest was when Tamim Iqbal scored 115 out of a total of 228 against England in Mirpur in 2010 which equated to 54.82%.
Highest % contribution in an innings for Bangladesh
Player Per Score Team Total Against Venue Date
Mushfiqur Rahim 55.17 144 262 SL Dubai 15-Sep-18
Tamim Iqbal 54.82 125 228 Eng Mirpur 28-Feb-10
Nasir Hossain 53.76 100 186/7 Pak Mirpur 3-Dec-11
Mahmudullah 53.52 76 142 SL Mirpur 27-Jan-18
Shahriar Nafees 53.24 123* 231/6 Zim Jaipur 13-Oct-16
5 Rahim became the fifth player batting at four or below to score an ODI century coming to bat with one run or fewer on the board. Rahim emulated Carl Hooper, Mahela Jayawardene, Herschelle Gibbs and Ramnaresh Sarwan in doing so.
Lowest score from which #4 or below scored a century
player Score From Final Total For Against Venue Date
C Hooper 100* 0/2 197 WI Eng Sharjah 13-Dec-97
M Jayawardene 116 1/2 184 SL NZ Sharjah 10-Apr-01
H Gibbs 118 1/2 207 SA Eng Kingsmead 11-Feb-05
R Sarwan 100* 1/2 212 WI Ire Kingston 14-Apr-10
Mushfiqur Rahim 144 1/2 261 Ban SL Dubai 15-Sep-18
3 for 2 is the lowest position from which Bangladesh have put together a 100-plus stand for the third wicket in ODIs. The previous lowest score from which they built a third wicket stand of 100 or more was 20 against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2004, with Habibul Bashar and Rajin Saleh adding an unbeaten 114. It also happens to be the first century third-wicket stand for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in ODIs.
32 The 32-run stand between Tamim and Rahim for the last wicket is the highest tenth wicket stand in ODI cricket involving an opening batsman. Tamim retired hurt in the second over of the match after getting hit on the finger by Suranga Lakmal and returned to bat at the fall of the ninth wicket. The previous highest tenth wicket stand involving an opening batsman was 31 between Damien Martyn and Glenn McGrath against New Zealand in Auckland in 2000.
32 Wickets taken by Lasith Malinga in the Asia Cup tournament - 28 of them coming in ODIs and four in T20 Internationals. He surpassed Muttiah Muralitharan's 30 wickets to become the leading wicket taker in Asia Cup.
124 is the lowest all out total for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in ODIs. The previous lowest was 147 in Mirpur in 2009. It was only the seventh win for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in 45 ODIs between the two teams.
137 Losing margin for Sri Lanka - the third biggest for a Full Member side in Asia Cup history. Bangladesh were on the receiving side of the first and second biggest losing margins - 158 run loss to Sri Lanka in Karachi in 2008 and 139 run loss to Pakistan in Dambulla in 2010.