India got off to a bright start in three-match ODI series against Bangladesh by winning the first match in Chittagong on Friday.
Batting first, India scored 245 for 8, thanks to useful half-centuries from Mohammad Kaif (80) and Rahul Dravid (53).
In reply, a quickfire innings from Khaled Mashud (50 from 39 balls) helped the hosts post a respectable 234 for 8, but that total was 11 runs short of a victory that never realy looked possible. Captain Habibul Bashar top-scored with 65.
For India, debutant medium-pacer Joginder Sharma impressed while claiming one wicket for 28 in his eight overs, while Sridharan Sriram claimed 3 for 43.
India innings:
Jharkhand wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Haryana all-rounder Joginder Sharma made their debut, while Sridharam Sriram made a comeback after nearly three years.
Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan were rested as Ajit Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif made the playing eleven as the team management decided to stick with its decision to rotate the players.
Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar won the toss and elected to bowl.
Sourav Ganguly opted to open the batting with Sachin Tendulkar and India were dealt a big blow early on when the Indian skipper was bowled off the second ball of the match, dragging a wide ball from Tapash Baisya onto his stumps.(0 for 1)
Yuvraj Singh came in at No. 3 to join Tendulkar in the middle, dispelling all theories that the hard-hitting Dhoni could be used as a pinch-hitter. The left-hander, on 3, was dropped by Baisya off the last ball of the third over. The pitch was keeping low and batting in general looked difficult.
The first boundary of the Indian innings came in the third ball of the fourth over, when Yuvraj hit a nicely timed shot on the leg side off Mushfiqur Rehman. India were progressing at a steady rate, reaching 19 for one after 5 overs, after which Bashar, made the first bowling change, replacing Rehman, with youngster Nazmul Hossain.
The 17-year-old got off to a very promising start, giving away just one run, a wide, in his first over.
In the tenth over of the innings, Tendulkar (15, 28b, 3 x 4) tried to break the shackles, as he charged down the pitch and flicked the ball to the square leg boundary. But Hossain stuck to his line and length and it paid rich dividends when he got Tendulkar off the last ball of his over.
The inside edge of the master's bat went straight to wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud. Tendulkar, who made 19 off 32 balls, was heading back to the pavilion after umpire Aleem Dar made a brilliant decision to rule in the bowler's favour. (37-2)
After ten overs, Bangladesh had restricted India to just 37 runs.
Rahul Dravid joined Yuvraj in the middle and started out in his customary fashion by playing out a maiden off Hossain.
Rehman, then, came back for his second spell, and struck immediately, trapping Yuvraj leg before wicket with a ball scooted just above the pitch and struck him just above his ankles. (45-3, 12.1)
Yuvraj was unlucky to be ruled out for 21 (32b, 4 boundaries) as television replays suggested the ball might have pitched outside the leg stump, though it went on to hit him bang in front of the middle stump.
India were in a spot of bother at 49 for the loss of 3 wickets and the pressure was now on the two new batsmen -- Dravid and Mohammad Kaif.
Meanwhile, Hossain was taken out of the attack after six overs in which he gave away just 13 runs and claimed the wicket of Tendulkar.
After 15 overs, India reached 53 for 3. Not exactly the kind of start that they would have been looking for.
Between the 12th over and the 17th over, India scored just 13 runs.
Kaif and Dravid looked to consolidate by taking their ones and two's and hitting the occasional boundary.
The two batsmen were finding things difficult against a disciplined Bangladeshi attack India reached 88 for 3 at the half way stage.
India reached 113 for 3 after 30 overs, and statisticians reckon that if a side has enough wickets in hand they generally go on to double their score from this point onwards. But would India manage to break the shackles?
Aftab Ahmed, the only Bangladesh bowler to take a five-wicket hauls in ODIs, replaced Khalid Mahmud, who bowled an useful first spell of 7 overs for 29 runs.
Mohammad Rafique also gave way to Baishya after a very good first spell of 7 overs, conceding just 28 runs.
Kaif reached his half-century, his tenth in ODIs, off 74 balls including five boundaries, as the India total reached 143 for 3 and the run rate moved up above 4 RPO mark.
Dravid followed suit, reaching his 55th half-century in ODIs with a superb square cut off Baisya. (158-3, 37 overs)
Kaif, however, was lucky to survive two chances in the late fifties. On 58, he tried to slash at a slower ball from Mahmud but he got an edge which just eluded the diving wicketkeeper Mashud.
Two balls later, Kaif pulled a short delivery straight to captain Bashar at short midwicket, who floored the simple offering.
You cannot afford to give chances to a batsman of Kaif's caliber, and here the hosts were generous enough to give him two. India were 171 for 3 after 40 overs.
Mahmud finally got the breakthrough off the first ball of the 41st over, when he had Dravid caught behind by Mashud for 53 off 80 balls. The Indian vice-captain tried to make some room and hit a wide slower one through the off side, but only succeeding in edging it straight to the wicketkeeper. (173 for 4)
Dravid and Kaif had put on a vital 128 runs for the fourth wicket in 168 balls, salvaging the team's position after they were struggling at 45 for 3.
Tamil Nadu's Sriram, who last played for India against Zimbabwe at Rajkot in December 2000, walked in next. The left-hander, however, did not last long and was brilliantly stumped by Mashud off Rafique after scoring just 3. (179 for 5)
Dhoni's eagerly awaited debut failed to materialize. The right-hander was run out off the very first ball he faced. A slight misunderstanding with partner Kaif resulted in the debutant wicketkeeper being sent back mid-pitch, allowing Mashud enough time to whip the bails off a good throw from the fielder at square leg. (179 for 6)
The Indian innings was starting to disintegrate after a solid partnership between Kaif and Dravid had put them on the right track. India were 190 for 6 after 44 overs, and a score of 250, barring a miracle, looked a distant though not impossible probability.
Hossain, who had the batsmen under wraps in his first spell, could not repeat the dose in his second spell and was picked for 8 runs in his seventh over, courtesy a boundary from Ajit Agarkar as India reached 199 for 6 after 45 overs.
Kaif's long vigil at the crease finally came to an end when he pushed one straight back to the bowler. (203 for 7)
Initially, it seemed that the ball had hit the ground, before going back to the bowler, but television replays confirmed that the ball had come off the bat. Interestingly, the appeal was first turned down by the umpire, but after some thought he referred it to the third umpire.
Kaif had played a vital innings of 80 off 111 balls and gave the Indian batting performance solidity after a lacklustre performance by the top order.
The 48th over brought some much needed relief for India, as they managed to get 12 runs. Agarkar hit a straight six off the last ball from Baisya to take the total to 217 for 7.
Another big over followed as Irfan Pathan chanced his arm against Hossain. The left-hander hit a huge six and a boundary in the over to take the total to 232 for 7.
Agarkar was dismissed in the first ball of the final over, as he was caught at the midwicket fence by Rahman off Baisya. He had played a quickfire innings of 25 from 24 balls, with a boundary and a six, to provide some much needed momentum to the innings.(232 for 8)
Joginder Sharma, who has two first-class centuries to his credit, made sure he started off on the right note by hitting a sweetly timed drive to the cover boundary for his first runs in international cricket.
Pathan finished the innings off with a bang, hitting a huge six off the last ball of the innings, as India ended with 245 for 8 in their 50 overs.
Pathan was unbeaten on 21 from 11 balls, with Sharma on 5.
For Bangladesh, Hossain took 39 for 2 in his 9 overs, while Mahmud and Rafique bowled 10 overs each, taking one wicket each, and conceding 43 and 39 runs respectively.
An interesting anomaly was that Bangladesh's best bowler Hossain bowled only nine overs. Makes one wonder whether Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar was fully focused on the match.
Bangladesh innings:
Pathan started off well and was partnered by Sharma, and not Agarkar.
Sharma, who plays for Haryana in the Ranji Trophy, started off with a wide by then got his act together and complimented Pathan well.
Bangladesh opted to have a pinch hitter at the top of the innings with Rafique opening the innings with Nafis Iqbal.
In the third over, Rafique took Pathan on, hitting him for a huge six over long-off. But the experiment did not last long as Pathan had Rafique caught by Yuvraj Singh at backward point off the fifth ball of the same over.
Rafique hammered the ball in Yuvraj's direction but around two feet above his head. But Yuvraj timed his leap to perfection and plucked the ball out of thin air with his left hand, to complete a brilliant catch. (11 for 1)
Sharma, who was taken out of the attack after bowling just three overs for two runs, was replaced by Agarkar. Though, the spell was short, it showcased why Ganguly rates the medium-pacer so highly.
Bangladesh reached 30 for 1 at the end of 10 overs, and Pathan who had bowled five overs for 19 runs, gave way to Sharma.
Bangladesh lost their second wicket in the 14th over, after a misunderstanding between Iqbal and Bashar. Iqbal went for a non-existent second run, which was refused by Bashar and Dravid sent the throw to the right end. (40-2, 13.2 overs)
Iqbal struggled during his innings of 9 which took 52 balls, but his dismissal further compounded Bangladesh's misery. They now had to ensure that they not only kept abreast with the ever-increasing required run rate, but also preserved their wickets.
The focus now shifted on young Mohammad Ashraful, who in the second Test had scored a wonderful 158 not out in the first innings.
However, the youngster, became Sharma's first wicket in international cricket, when he was caught by Sourav Ganguly at gully for 2. (44-3, 15 overs)
Ganguly brought himself on to bowl the 19th over. Bangladesh were reeling at 53 for 3, and Ganguly had not scored with the bat, so what better time to redeem himself!
His first over cost just four as Aftab Ahmed lofted him over the mid-off fielder for a boundary.
The very next over, Harbhajan Singh was introduced, and he nearly took a wicket off his second ball. But the Bangladeshi batsmen survived and the score crept up to 65 for 3 after 20 overs.
The next five overs yielded just 16 runs, as Harbhajan and Ganguly maintained the pressure. Bangladesh progressed to 81 for 3 after 25 overs.
Ahmed's patience finally eroded, as he hoisted Harbhajan for a huge six over long-on, and then lifted him over long-off for a boundary to take 15 runs from the over.
Left-arm spinner Sridharan Sriram was introduced in the 27th over, replacing Ganguly, who bowled four overs for 19.
Success came early to Sriram. In his second over, he tempted with a well-flighted delivery. Ahmed (30) took the bait but only managed to hit the ball as far as Harbhajan on the long-off boundary. (108 for 4)
Ahmed and Bashar had put on 64 runs for the fourth wicket in 82 balls and in the process helped Bangladesh get back into the match.
When his scored reached 42, skipper Bashar became the second Bangladesh batsman after Khaled Mashud to score 1000 runs in ODIs. After 30 overs Bangladesh were tottering at 111 for 4, still needing another 135 runs in 20 overs.
Very soon, Bashar reached his ninth half-century in ODIs, off 72 balls with five boundaries.
After 36 overs, Bangladesh were just behind India's score at the same stage. Bangladesh were 136 for 4 as compared to India's 146 for 3. The big question was whether Bangladesh could replicate India's late surge -- 74 runs in 10 overs -- in the final few overs.
Sriram got his second wicket, that of Rajin Saleh (14), when the batsman tried to hit through the midwicket region. Sharma completed a good running catch to reduce Bangladesh to 143-5 after 38.1 overs.
India kept the hosts on a tight leash throughout and with only ten over remaining Bangladesh needing another 92 runs to complete an improbable win.
The pressure was building fast and Bashar succumbed to it, giving Dravid an easy catch at long-off to hand Sriram his third wicket. (156 for 6)
The Bangladesh captain had scored 65 off 96 balls (6 boundaries), but his dismissal, with not much batting to follow, seemed to signal the end of his team's chances.
Mushfiqur Rehman (2) did not last long was adjudged leg before wicket to Agarkar off a big inside edge. (160-7, 42 overs)
Rehman looked bemused at the decision and made his disappointment quite visible as he walked back. It wouldn't be surprising if he invites the wrath of the match referee after the game.
The two Khaleds Mashud and Mahmud showed some pluck and resolve by taking some quick ones and twos coupled with a few boundaries. Bangladesh reached 182 for 7 after 45 overs, needing another 64 runs from the last five overs.
Bangladesh's eighth wicket fell in the 48th over, when Kaif running backwards, completed a good catch off Agarkar to send back Mahmud. (200-8, 47.3 overs)
Mahmud played an entertaining innings of 21 from 17 balls (3 boundaries) to give the crowd something to cheer but it was a case of too little too late.
Sharma was called on to bowl the 49th over, and Mashud launched into his bowling with refreshing vigour.
No run came off the first ball, but the second and third went to the boundary, and the fourth one was dispatched over the ropes at midwicket for a six.
Sharma had conceded just 13 in his first seven overs, but in this over he gave away 16 runs, underlying how different it is bowling at the start of the innings with a new ball in hand and in the end overs, when the batsmen are looking to attack. (218 for 8)
Bangladesh needed 28 runs from the final over, but could manage only 16 as India won by 11 runs.
Mashud played a fighting innings of 50, his fifth half-century in ODIs, from 39 balls (4 boundaries and a six) to bring some respectability to the total at the end.
A couple of dropped chances and poor batting by the top order undermined the efforts of the hosts. Even though Bangaldesh lost the match, they can certainly take some heart from the fact that they gave India a tough fight.