 | News |  |
HOME | BOLLYWOOD | MOVIES | CRICKET | DIWALI | E-CARDS | COOKING | BABY NAMES | JOKES | FESTIVALS | MOBILES | CARS & BIKES | ||
InDepth headlines national business sports cricket regional entertainment technology world travel autos health | in-depth coverage > Indian Cricket Team's Bangladesh Tour > Bangladesh fight but India prevail in Chittagong 17.24 IST 23rd Dec 2004 By IndiaExpress Bureau 
Everybody expected India to win against Bangladesh. But a victory margin of just 11 runs against the minnows is not exactly what all had in mind.But that’s precisely what happened as India beat Bangladesh by 11 runs in the first match of the series at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong on December 23, to take a 1-0 lead. Another point of concern for India was that they were unable to bowl out Bangladesh in the allotted 50 overs as the hosts managed to score 234/8 chasing a victory target of 246 runs. Bangladesh got off to a poor start thanks to a stunning catch taken by Yuvraj Singh at backward point. Hosts’ opener Mohammad Rafique (8) slashed at a wide delivery by Pathan, the ball went like a bullet over backward point, where Yuvraj grasped it from thin air by one hand, jumping high in the air. In a reaction time of just one second, Yuvraj timed his jump to such perfection that had he dived before, then the ball would have hit his wrists and had he jumped later, the ball would have touched the tips of his fingers. Nafis Iqbal (9) was run out due to a misunderstanding with his skipper Habibul Bashar and soon after, Mohammad Ashraful (2) was caught at gully by Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly to give debutant Joginder Sharma his first ODI wicket. With the hosts at 44/3, Bashar and Aftab Ahmed added 64 runs for the fourth wicket before Sridharan Sriram had Ahmed (30) caught by Harbhajan. The required run rate was creeping up all the time for Bangladesh and this provided Sriram with an ideal platform to pick a couple of wickets more. Sriram first had Rajin Saleh (14) caught at long-on by Sharma and in his next over had Bashar (65) caught by Rahul Dravid at long-off. Ajit Agarkar took the next two wickets of Mushfiqur Rahman (2) and Khaled Mahmud (21) to reduce Bangladesh to 200/8. A late surge by the hosts’ wicket keeper Khaled Mashud took their score to 234/8, with Mashud remaining unbeaten on 50. Earlier, Mohammad Kaif top-scored with 80 on a difficult wicket after Bangladesh put India in to bat on winnings the toss. Kaif struck seven fours but the hallmark of his 111-ball knock was his lightning running between the wickets. He put on 128 for the fourth wicket with Rahul Dravid, who scored 53 off 80 balls for his 55th half-century, to rescue India from 45/3. The home side made an excellent start when paceman Tapash Baisya struck with the second ball, Ganguly (0) dragging the ball on his stumps. Maestro Sachin Tendulkar hit three boundaries in his 19 before he was caught behind, edging between bat and pad while trying to whip Nazmul Hossain towards mid-wicket. Yuvraj (21) was then adjudged lbw to a ball from Mushfiqur Rahman that seemed to pitch outside leg and keep low. Kaif and Dravid took the score to 173 before Dravid was caught behind while trying to cut seamer Mahmud. Three wickets fell for seven runs, debutant wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni running himself out for a first-ball duck while Kaif was caught and bowled by Nazmul Hossain with a slower delivery, and India still looked in some trouble on 203/7. But Ajit Agarkar (25 off 24 balls) and Irfan Pathan (21 off 11) propped up the total with exciting cameos, Pathan finishing the innings with a pulled six off Baisya. India rested opener Virender Sehwag and fast bowler Zaheer Khan. Kaif was adjudged the Man of the Match. Dhaka will host the last two ODIs on December 26 and 27. in-depth coverage > Indian Cricket Team's Bangladesh Tour > |
Marigold (Review) The Last Legion (Slideshow) Chak De India (Review) Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (Slideshow) Sachin Tendulkar makes Atherton eat his words Sachin Tendulkar joins 11,000 Test run club Sachin Tendulkar becomes third highest run-getter Sachin Tendulkar stills dreams about century at Lord's Tendulkar to go in Tests with confident frame of mind I am nowhere near the final stop yet: Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar closes in on Waugh’s Test aggregate Aviva Life signs Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador I am unfazed by criticism: Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar becomes first player to score 15,000 ODI runs Sachin's views on keeping Indian cricket at pace with times Tendulkar back into top twenty Entertainment Marigold : Movie Review When Salman and Ali Larter went Jet Skiing Ayesha Takia and Akshay Kumar in a supernatural thriller Sushmita Sen dating Dia Mirza's ex 'The Last Lear' selected for Toronto Film Festival |
