Ganguly hits unbeaten 135 as India subdue Bangladesh

The former skipper of the Bangladesh side, whose parents migrated to Dhaka from Saharanpur during the Partition, hit the ball with ferocious strength. A combination of brute power, sweet timing and the ability to pick the gaps resulted in Akram racing to 66 off only 52 balls, with Anil Kumble suffering the most from his hands.

Seldom must Kumble have been hit with such ease as Akram did today. Partnering Akram in this gush of strokes was Naimul Rehman and the result was 97 runs coming in the last 10 overs. It also took Bangladesh to its highest score against India, 249. The previous best was 190 made here in 1998.

The solid, flat track here is a batsman’s dream, the nightmares reserved for the bowlers alone. Saurav Ganguly was to demonstrate this harsh fact to the bowlers when it was India’s wield the willow. Though Sachin Tendulkar executed classy strokes in the brief period he was at the crease, it was Ganguly’s blistering attack on the bowlers which ensured India would be always ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis asking rate, had the rains stopped the match after 25 overs.

There was one such scare when dark, threatening clouds passed over the stadium, but to everyone’s surprise it did not produce any rain. India, who have been done a favour by the organisers by allowing them to resume the match today, went on the win the match quite easily in the end, with Ganguly thumping strokes all round the wicket almost at will, to make his 13th one-day hundred.

Hemang Badani made a good impression, more in the field than with the bat and Mohammed Azharuddin was his wristy self, but the lasting memory of the match will be Rehman’s slashed six of Agarkar. The ball cleared the point fence by yards.

To Bangladesh’s credit, they did not wilt under this onslaught. They have put in a lot of hard work to hone their fielding skills and on today’s evidence, the Indians could take a few lessons from them.

The major disappointment for the Indians has to be their bowling. On wickets like these the gentle pace and predictable line and length of the pacemen is what the batsmen like most. Even the spinners are no threat as the ball hardly turns and the bounce is even enough for the batsmen to play through or even across the line, without finding themselves in any sort of trouble.

Tomorrow is India’s major test. They play Sri Lanka and unless their batsmen contribute substantially, it will be a very difficult match for the Indians to win. The bowlers have to show variations in pace to force the batsmen to mistime their shots. A tall order indeed.

SCOREBOARD

BANGLADESH

J Omar b T Kumaran 1 (6b)
S Hossain c S Joshi b T Kumaran 11 (2 fours, 33b)
H Bashar c Azharuddin b Tendulkar 57 (3 fours, 1 six, 96b)
A Islam c Kumble b Tendulkar 47 (2 fours, 72b)
A Khan c Badani b Agarkar 66 (7 fours, 2 sixes, 52b)
N Rehman not out 39 (2 fours, 1 six, 38b)
M Rafique b Kumaran 8 (1 six, 5 b)
E Haque not out 5 (3b)
Extras (lb-8, w-3, nb-6 ) 1
Total (for 6 wkts) 249 in 50 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Omar), 2-30 (Hossain), 3-124 (Bashar), 4-131 (Islam), 5-234 (Akram), 6-243 (Rafique)
Bowling: A Agarkar 10-2-37-1; T Kumaran 9-0-54-3; S Ganguly 4-0-35-0; A Kumble 9-0-43-0; S Joshi 7-0-31-0; H Badani 1-0-6-0; R Singh 4-0-11-0; S Tendulkar 6-0-24-2

INDIA

S Ganguly not out 135 (6 fours, 7 sixes, 124b)
S Tendulkar c Bashar b M Rehman 36 (4 fours, 2 sixes, 25b)
H Badani c A Islam b Haque 35 (3 fours, 51b)
M Azharuddin not out 35 (4 fours, 43b)
Extras (lb-4, w-5, nb-2) 11
Total (for 2 wkts) 252 in 40.1 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-85 (Tendulkar), 2-152 (Badani)
Bowling:M Islam 7-0-54-0; M Rafique 7-0-48-0; M Rehman 9.1-0-59-1; N Rehman 10-0-45-0; E Haq 5-0-28-1; Bashar 2-0-14-0
RESULT: India won by eight wickets
MAN OF THE MATCH: Saurav Ganguly

TOMORROW’S MATCH: INDIA V SRI LANKA