Shahriar five short of distinction (21 March 1999)

21 March 1999

Shahriar five short of distinction

Sports Reporter

It was shocking when opener Shahriar Hossain failed to become the first Bangladeshi to score a century in one-day international cricket. He was short by only five runs yesterday.

Shahriar, the 23-year old right-hand opener, was on 95 when Pakistan Umpire Javed Akhter adjudged him leg before off left-arm Kenyan spinner Muhammad Sheikh.

However, his 95 was good enough to write his name in the record book as the first Bangladeshi to be out in the nervous nineties. On his way to his career-best individual knock, Shahriar also surpassed Athar Ali's 82 against Pakistan scored in the last Asia Cup in Colombo two years back.

In his 145-ball stay at the crease, Shahriar, dropped on 83 by Odoyo, scored eight boundaries, two threes, nine twos and 39 singles.

For Athar Ali, the former national opener, it was a day of personal losses. He also lost his place as the highest run-scorer for Bangladesh when Aminul Islam collected the last run of his 20.

With yesterday's 20 runs, Aminul scored 533 runs in 23 ODIs with two fifties, one run more than Athar Ali, who scored 532 runs in his 19 matches with three half-centuries.

Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)