Bangladesh batters Jaker Ali and Towhid Hridoy have shattered a 19-year-old record in the Champions Trophy with their brilliant rearguard in their 2025 opener against India on Thursday, February 20.
After opting to bat first, the Bangla Tigers suffered a collapse in the powerplay, losing half of their side in the first 10 overs. The Indian pacers - Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana struck at the start before Axar Patel took back-to-back wickets but was denied a hat-trick after Rohit dropped Jaker Ali.
Jaker and Towhid then stitched a crucial stand for the sixth wicket as they rebuilt things for the Bangla Tigers. They put up a 154-run stand, which is now the highest for a sixth wicket in the history of the Champions Trophy.
The previous record belonged to the South African pair of Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp, both of who had notched up a stand of 131 for the sixth wicket in their team's clash against Pakistan in the 2006 Champions Trophy.
Highest sixth-wicket partnership in Champions Trophy:
1 - Jaker Ali Towhid Hridoy: 154-run stand in Champions Trophy 2025
2 - Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp: 131-run stand in Champions Trophy 2006
3 - Chris Cairns and Chris Harris: 122-run stand in Champions Trophy 2000
4 - Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif: 117-run stand in Champions Trophy 2002
5 - Neil Fairbrother and Adam Hollioake: 112-run stand in Champions Trophy 1998
While Jaker was dismissed for 68, Hridoy went on to smash a century, becoming the ninth player to hit a ton on Champions Trophy debut.
Bangladesh had earlier opted to bat first after winning the toss. "We would like to bat first. Looks a good wicket so we want to put runs on the board. We have play good cricket today and the boys are confident. Three seamers, two spinners for us," Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said at the toss.
"I would have fielded first. We have played a few years back here so we felt ball comes on better under lights. All looking good. Everyone is fit and fine to go. Let's hope we start well. There is no looking back, every game becomes very important in this tournament. Only Varun misses out from the last ODI we played, Jadeja comes back and Arshdeep misses and Shami comes back," India captain Rohit said at the toss.