Najmul Hossain Shanto hammers his third ODI ton: Key stats
Bangladesh batter Najmul Hossain Shanto has slammed his third century in ODI cricket. The Bangladesh skipper reached the three-figure mark in the 1st ODI against Sri Lanka at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram. Shanto played a captain's knock as the hosts chased down 256. He added an unbeaten century-plus stand with Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored a fifty. Here are the key stats.
A composed knock from Shanto
Bangladesh lost opener Litton Das on the run-chase's first ball. They were down to 23/3 and lost Mahmudullah too before the 100-run mark. Shanto then joined forces with Rahim, as the duo took Bangladesh past 200. The former finally completed his century off 108 balls, ensuring safe passage for the hosts. He remained watchful en route to his ton.
Shanto tops this list
Shanto eventually smashed an unbeaten 122 off 129 balls, a knock studded with 13 fours and 2 sixes. This is now the highest individual score by a Bangladesh captain in ODI cricket. He went past his teammate Rahim, who scored 117 against India in February 2014. Shanto became only the fifth Bangladeshi with a century in ODIs as captain.
How did the match pan out?
SL started well as openers Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando shared a 71-run stand. They lost four wickets before reaching 150. While Janith Liyanage held one end, the rest departed in quick succession. Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed took three wickets as SL perished for 255. Bangladesh lost four quick wickets, but Shanto and Rahim got them over the line.
Over 1,300 ODI runs
Shanto made his ODI debut in September 2018, against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi. As of now, he has smashed 1,324 runs from 43 ODIs at an average of 33.94. The tally includes 11 fifty-plus scores (three tons).
Most ODI runs for Bangladesh in 2023
Shanto has been taking rapid strides at the international level. He was Bangladesh's highest run-scorer in ODI cricket in 2023. In 27 ODIs this year, the young batter raced to 992 runs at a remarkable average of 41.33. No other Bangladesh batter scored over 850 ODI runs last year. His tally included 10 fifty-plus scores (two centuries).