Shakib started a bit cautiously after Bangladesh lost two wickets in the 1st powerplay. He completed 7000 runs in the 20th over with a single and took 65 balls to reach his half-century.
But in just one over, the southpaw made up for his slightly slow start.
Curtis Campher came in to bowl the 35th over and Shakib took him to the cleaners, hitting him for five fours in an over that fetched Bangladesh and Shakib 22 runs.
But Shakib’s penchant to keep hitting boundaries brought his demise and the left-hander fell seven runs short of hitting his 10th ODI century.
On the other hand, Towhid reached his fifty off 55 balls in an innings which exuded confidence and maturity.
Towhid opened his account with a boundary and hit four boundaries before reaching his half-century in the 36th over.
Towhid has now been joined by veteran Mushfiqur Rahim and after 40 overs Bangladesh has reached 242-4.
Towhid is batting on 66 off 69 while Mushfiq is unbeaten on 16 off eight balls.
Earlier, Bangladesh were asked to bat first.