tamim makes it Banglas day

Earlier in the day,Mahendra Singh Dhoni batted well with the tail to stretch Indias first innings total to 544 with a patient 89 before declaring at lunch. Though he missed out on a Test century eventually,he did have Yuvraj Singh padded up with a plaster on his hand on the sidelines,in case he came close and last-man Pragyan Ojha got out.

Like most lengthy associations at the crease,Tamim and Junaid complemented each other after Imrul Kayes fell early,as they thwarted every challenge that the Indian bowlers threw at them. While Tamim ensured that there was no respite for either the fast bowlers,against whom he drove and cut with power,or the spinners,who were swept away nonchalantly on a regular basis,Siddique played dead-bat to perfection and kept the scoreboard ticking over with singles.

His team might have started their innings with a 311-run deficit,but the pressure never showed on Tamim,who brought up the fastest century scored by a Bangladeshi batsman,off 101 balls. The Indian bowlers too seemed impatient,as coach Gary Kirsten noted later,to bowl out the opposition.

So dominant was Tamim that by the time he edged Zaheer Khan who got prodigious reverse-swing towards the end he had scored 151 of the 222 runs on the board.

With both Tamim and Siddique falling by the end of the third days play,India are still overwhelming favourites. India,however,have been reduced to just 12 fit men in their squad despite having arrived with a 16-strong party for the Test series and both Rahul Dravid fractured zygomatic arch and Yuvraj Singh torn ligament on his left wrist will not bat in the second innings.

A run-chase of over 150,and a couple of early wickets in the second innings,could still lead to an interesting finish going into the final two days.