May 27, 2007
India Beat Bangladesh by Innings
and 239 Runs, Win Series By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
Dhaka,
A far superior India defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 239 runs
with over two days to spare in the second and final Test to win the
rain-affected series 1-0 here Sunday.
India Saturday declared their first innings at 610 for three wickets
and Bangladesh made 118 and 253 after being forced to follow-on to
lose inside of three days.
India had also won the One-day International (ODI) series 2-0.
Bangladesh pacer Mashrafe Mortaza top-scored for his team with 70
(68 balls, 8x4s, 3x6s) while Mohammad Ashraful, who made the world's
fastest half-century (in 26 minutes), came second best with 67 (41
balls, 12x4s, 2x6s).
It was the fifth Test between the two countries and India have won
four of them. The first match of this series in Chittagong ended in
a rain-affected draw.
Starting their second innings 492 runs behind India's total, the
Bangladeshi batsmen showed no keenness to stay at the wicket and
inexplicably went for their shots.
Continuing his fine bowling in the first innings, pacer Zaheer Khan
struck with the first ball of the second innings. He had opener
Javed Omar caught by wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for naught
again to bag the 'king of pair' tag.
Omar was unlucky to be given out as television replays showed his
bat had not touched the ball.
Ten runs later, Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar (5) marched back
to the pavilion after giving a catch to Dravid at mid-on off Khan.
At the same score, Shahriar Nafees (4) was also out, caught by a
diving Dhoni off left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh.
At this stage it looked like the match would be over soon as the
Bangladeshi batsmen failed to show the zeal for fight. But Ashraful
joined Rajin Saleh and the two occupied the crease for a meaningful
stand of 81.
It was, however, baffling to see Ashraful go for his shots when the
situation demanded occupation of the crease. In one over of Khan, he
hit a four and then sent the next ball over square leg for six. Khan
conceded 13 runs in that over and was removed from the attack.
In the next over from debutant Ishant Sharma, Ashraful smashed 14
runs, including three boundaries.
During this over, Ashraful, playing his 35th match, reached his
seventh half-century off just 26 balls and at an amazing strike rate
of 196.2. His 50 contained nine boundaries and two sixes.
It was the fastest half-century in 112 years of Test cricket in
terms of balls faced. England's John Thomas Brown had smashed his 50
in 28 minutes during the fifth Test against Australia in Melbourne
in March 1895.
The adventurous Ashraful played one shot too many and was finally
caught by Sachin Tendulkar at short mid wicket off Kumble.
The entire Bangladeshi approach to batting was baffling. The team's
first 50 had come off 52 balls but the next one needed a mere 37, as
they touched the 100-run mark in 40.1 overs. It seemed as if they
were playing a one-dayer.
Saleh (42, 46 balls, 8x4s) was involved in another meaningful stand
for the fifth wicket with Sakibul Hasan. They added 44 runs but
never looked comfortable against an aggressive Indian attack, though
it was not always backed by sharp fielding.
Saleh got a 'life' at 40 when Sharma ran backwards to take the catch
but failed to hold on to a difficult chance off Ramesh Powar. The
miss did not prove costly as two balls later Sourav Ganguly caught
him at mid-wicket off the off-spinner.
After the tea interval, wickets continued falling at regular
intervals. Sakibul (15, 64 balls, 1x4) added just two runs to his
score - and Bangladesh three -before giving Dravid an easy catch off
Powar. Bangladesh were now reeling at 150 for six.
Soon after that the reliable Khaled Mashud was also dismissed. After
occupying the crease for nearly an hour for his eight runs, he
suddenly stepped out against Powar but missed the length and spooned
a simple catch to Tendulkar at short mid-on.
The last resistance came from the Sharif-Mashrafe Mortaza pair, who
defied the predominantly Indian spin attack for over an hour. They
raised 54 priceless runs for the eighth wicket before Sharif (17, 56
balls, 2x4s) fell to Kumble's guile, offering him a return catch.
A Tendulkar full toss accounted for Mohammad Rafique. Mortaza was
the last man to go when he miscued a sweep to give Dhoni an easy
catch off Tendulkar.
Earlier, the day began with Bangladesh resuming their first innings
at 58 for five with Sakibul (30) and Sharif (0) at the crease. The
innings lasted 101 minutes and 21.2 overs, yielding a mere 118.
It was a combination of some good bowling by Khan and Singh and the
batsmen's penchant for playing shots.
Sakibul (30, 47 balls, 4x4s) lasted only two balls as Khan won a
leg-before-wicket verdict. Sharif and the experienced Mashud then
occupied the crease only briefly before Kumble had the former leg
before the wicket for 13.
At 85 for seven, Bangladesh were facing an uphill task to avoid the
follow-on.
Then Sharma, who replaced an injured Munaf Patel, took his maiden
Test wicket with the second ball of his sixth over. He had Mortaza
(2) caught by Kumble at gully.
Bangladesh broke the psychological barrier of 100 in 30.3 overs. Ten
runs later, Khan struck again and castled Rafique for his fifth
wicket of the innings. It was the fourth five-wicket haul in his
47th match.
Rasel would have gone with the addition of eight runs had Karthik at
short leg not dropped him off Powar. Mashud (25, 64 balls, 2x4s) was
the last man to be out.
With this wicket, Kumble took his wicket tally to 550 in his 115th
match. He became only the fourth bowler in Test history to reach
that mark.
Bangladesh finished 492 runs short of India's 610 for three, and
were expectedly asked to follow on.
SCOREBOARD
Third Day, Second Test, India vs. Bangladesh, Sher-e-Bangla National
Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka
India (1st innings): 610/3 declared
Bangladesh (1st innings, overnight 58/5 wickets):
Javed Omar c Karthik b Khan 0
Shahriar Nafees b Khan 2
Habibul Bashar c Dhoni b R.P. Singh 4
Rajin Saleh c Jaffer b Kumble 20
Mohammad Ashraful lbw b 0
Shakibul Hasan lbw b Khan 30
Mohammad Sharif lbw b Kumble 13
Khaled Mashud c Dhoni b Kumble 25
Mashrafe Mortaza c Kumble b Sharma 2
Mohammad Rafique b Khan 12
Syed Rasel not out 2
Extras: (lb 2, nb 6) 8
Total: (in 37.2 overs) 118
Bangladesh (2nd innings):
Javed Omar c Dhoni b Khan 0
Shahriar Nafees c Dhoni b R.P. Singh 4
Habibul Bashar c Dravid b Khan 5
Rajin Saleh c Ganguly b Powar 42
Mohammad Ashraful c Tendulkar b Kumble 67
Shakibul Hasan c Dravid b Powar 15
Khaled Mashud c Tendulkar b Powar 8
Mashrafe Mortaza c Dhoni b Tendulkar 70
Mohammad Sharif c & b Kumble 17
Mohammad Rafique lbw b Tendulkar 11
Syed Rasel not out 1
Extras: (lb 1, w 3, nb 9) 13
Total: (all out in 57.3 overs) 253
Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies)
TV umpire: Nadir Shah (Bangladesh)
Reserve umpire: Monzur Rahman (Bangladesh)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)
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