Hridoy’s Maiden Century and a Record Stand with Jaker in the Champions Trophy
Playing his first-ever Champions Trophy match, Towhid Hridoy finally achieved his long-awaited international century, forming a record-breaking partnership with Jaker Ali for the sixth wicket.
For quite some time, Hridoy was battling severe dehydration. He was barely able to run, almost walking between the wickets. At one point, in a desperate attempt to take a single off Kuldeep Yadav’s delivery towards point, he tripped and fell. But there was no time to stay down—he got up, limped forward, and, with a full-length dive, somehow made it to the crease.
That single took him to 99 runs. In the next over, he reached the much-anticipated milestone—his first international century! As he removed his helmet to celebrate, exhaustion was evident on his face, but his smile reflected pure satisfaction.
His joy wasn’t just about reaching three figures despite the cramps. It was also about rescuing his team from a dire situation and giving them a fighting total. At one stage, even reaching 100 runs seemed like a distant dream for Bangladesh, but thanks to Hridoy’s resilience and determination, they managed to post 228.
Bangladesh, opting to bat first, collapsed to 35/5 due to the top order’s failure. From that precarious position, Hridoy and Jaker scripted a historic recovery, stitching together a remarkable partnership.
Jaker eventually departed for 68, but Hridoy stood firm, overcoming muscle cramps and dehydration to score exactly 100 runs off 118 balls, laced with six boundaries and two sixes.
From the 45th over onwards, his cramps worsened, making it almost impossible for him to move. This affected his batting too—otherwise, both he and the team could have ended with a bigger total.
Hridoy became only the second Bangladeshi batter to score a century in his Champions Trophy debut, following Tamim Iqbal’s 128 against England in 2017.
A Record-Breaking Partnership
Bangladesh lost two wickets in the first two overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz followed in the seventh over, bringing Hridoy to the crease. A few balls later, he witnessed Tanzid Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim depart off consecutive deliveries. That’s when his counterattack began, alongside Jaker.
Their partnership could have ended early, though. In the very first ball they faced together, Rohit Sharma dropped Hridoy off Axar Patel’s hat-trick delivery in the slips. Later, Hardik Pandya missed another catch when Hridoy was on 23, and Jaker also survived a stumping chance at 24.
Both batters made the most of these lifelines. They batted together from the ninth to the 43rd over, adding 154 runs.
This stand is now Bangladesh’s highest sixth-wicket partnership in ODIs. The previous best was 150 between Jaker and Mahmudullah against West Indies in December.
Hridoy and Jaker also set a new Champions Trophy record for the highest sixth-wicket partnership. The previous best was 131 runs by South Africa’s Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp against Pakistan in 2006.
Additionally, they broke a 20-year-old record for the highest sixth-wicket stand against India. In 2005, Sri Lanka’s Marvan Atapattu and Russel Arnold had added 133 runs.
A Slow and Steady Recovery
Understandably, Hridoy and Jaker took their time rebuilding the innings. Their first 50-run partnership took 84 balls, and the next fifty required another 80. After that, Hridoy accelerated, scoring 54 runs in just 42 balls towards the end.
Jaker, playing at a steady pace, reached his fifty off 87 balls. Even after that, he struggled to increase his scoring rate. His 114-ball innings included just four boundaries.
Hridoy also started cautiously, taking 85 balls for his eighth career half-century. But once he reached the milestone, he switched gears. He smashed his first six off Kuldeep Yadav over covers, followed by another slog sweep maximum against Ravindra Jadeja.
His momentum continued until a sudden cramp while running between the wickets left him struggling. From then on, he could hardly move freely.
Yet, he needed only 29 balls to go from 50 to 100. Unfortunately, he couldn’t add any more runs after reaching the landmark.
Still, what he had already done was more than enough to make this knock a memorable one.
