Irfan Pathan's first five-wicket haul in international cricket spelled doom for Bangladesh as the hosts were bowled out for 184 on day one of the first Test against India at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
Mohammed Ashraful battled valiantly to 60 not out after Mohammad Rafique's wicket on 171 signalled the end of Bangladesh's resistance.
During the day's play, leg spinner Anil Kumble became India's highest Test wicket-taker by grabbing his 435th scalp . The 34-year-old reached the milestone by trapping Mohammad Rafique lbw with a flipper that pitched on leg stump.
The Indian innings was called off before a ball was bowled. As Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were taking guard, the umpires called off play due to bad light. The Indian batsmen walked off the field as soon as they were offered light even before a ball had been bowled. The floodlights had been switched on a good half hour before the Bangladesh innings was over.
Earlier, the start of the match was delayed due to a damp pitch, which had failed to dry out after the curator had watered it on Thursday morning.
Post-lunch session
The Indian captain finally got lucky with the toss and elected to field. It struck one as slightly odd considering the state of the pitch. Ideally one would have liked to see India go out and get some quick runs.
India's decision to bowl first might have seemed odd against a side that hasn't won a single Test match in 32 attempts but the Indian bowlers, Pathan and Zaheer Khan justified the move.
Pathan looked dangerous from the first over itself as he skidded on to the batsmen and had his inswingers working early. After a couple of close leg before appeals were turned down, he claimed the wicket of Omar, for four, with another inswinger. The right hander was caught plumb in front of the wicket not attempting a shot. (8 for 1)
By the ninth over of the match, India turned the heat on Bangladesh as Pathan claimed two wickets of the first two balls. The 20-year-old found the perfect line and the got the ball to swing late. The batsmen were hard-pressed to play the ball that came into them.
Nasif Iqbal (20) paid the price of plonking his foot right across the stumps.
The left-arm seamer also snared Rajin Saleh, the new batsman, for a golden duck. (29 for 3)
Zaheer Khan, on the other hand, kept angling the ball across the right-handed batsmen. After beating the bat persistently, Zaheer was rewarded for his consistently with his first wicket in his sixth over when Habibul Bashar pulled the ball into Sachin Tendulkar's hands at deep square leg. The Bangladesh captain, after grafting his way to eight, was gone and Bangladesh were reduced to 35 for 4.
Zaheer, then, induced an edge from the experienced Khaled Mashud to reduce Bangladesh to 50 for 5.
The Indian seamers bowled brilliantly in the first hour or play and fully vindicated Ganguly's decision.
Pathan had figures of 21 for 3 after his first spell of 10 overs. Zaheer continued for nine overs (35 for 2) before giving way to Sourav Ganguly.
Once the two main seamers were out the attack, the bowling seemed to lack any real bite.
Ganguly trundled along for four overs and Anil Kumble, introduced in the 21st over, looked a little anxious to enter the record books. The leg-spinner bowled too full and was punished by the batsmen on those occassions.
Mohammed Ashraful countered the Indian bowlers with a frown on the face and a cool head. After the fall of Mashud's wicket, the right-hander along with Manjural Rana helped staged a fine recovery for Bangladesh with a 55-run partnership in 17.1 overs.
Ashraful (36 not out) sprinkled his innings with four boundaries. His best shot was a straight drive off Zaheer.
His 20-year-old partner, Rana, playing only his fifth Test match, held on at the other end and scored 23 runs from 48 balls.
Post-Tea sessionPathan continued to take an aggressive approach in the final session of the day. In the post-lunch session, Bangladesh had fought back with a 55-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Pathan took another wicket right after the break with a ball that moved away from Rana just enough to induce a faint edge, which was pocketed by wicket keeper Dinesh Kartik. (106-6)
Then Pathan trapped Mushfiqur Rahman leg before wicket the very next ball to achieve his best bowling figures in Tests.For the second time in the day the left-armer was on a hat-trick. However, Ashraful nonchalantly drove the ball down to long-off for three runs. (106-7)
Mohammed Rafique, who has a Test hundred -- 111 against West Indies, provided some energy to the Bangladeshi innings. The left-hander looked to attack from the word 'go' and in the process forced the Indian skipper to spread the field.
Rafique, at 34, ran hard and hit the ball with a carefree spirit that seemed to inspire the 20-year-old Ashraful at the other end. The slog sweeps and square cuts kept coming. Harbhajan and Kumble were cross-batted regularly and amazingly Rafique kept piercing the in field. In the process, he also went past 500 runs in Test cricket.
Ashraful, who is the youngest player to score a Test century on debut, flirted with danger but survived. He is still the brightest young talent on show from Bangladesh and needs to make knocks like this a rule rather than an exception.
He defended well, picked the line of the ball diligently and played the Indian spinners with soft hands. He had some powerful drives to the fence but a late cut off Kumble defined his poise and confidence on a day when the top-order struggled.
Rafique fell three runs short of a well deserved half-century.
Kumble had played the waiting game during the over. He had been content to flight the ball as much as possible. Rafique survived an appeal for leg before earlier in the over, then hit a graceful square drive. But the leg-spinner had only been setting up his man for the quicker delivery. The very next ball zipped in and trapped Rafique plumb in front of the stumps.(171 for 8)
It was wicket number 435 for Kumble and with it he had become the highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket. The ace leg spinner had typically thought out the batsman to claim his piece of cricket history.
His joy at breaking Kapil Dev's record to become the most successful Indian bowler in Tests was understated as ever. The ace spinner merely pumped his fists and acknowledged his teammates' wishes.
The partnership for the seventh wicket was a vital 65 and came in just 18.3 overs.
The next ball proved even more eventful as umpire Aleem Dar turned down an appeal for lbw against Tapash Baisya stating it had hit the bat, only to see Rahul Dravid show the presence of mind to complete the catch at slip. Seven fielders, excluding the wicketkeeper, surrounded the bat for Kumble's hat-trick ball.
It was third such occasion for an Indian bowler on Friday but this too, like the others, ended in disappointment.
The last man to fall was Mashrafe Murtuza as Bangladesh were bundled out for 184 in 57.5 overs. Gautam Gambhir's throw at the bowler's end to Kumble found Murtuza short of the crease when the bails were dislodged.
The Indian spinners found it difficult to make an impression on the first-day wicket and the team, except for Pathan's spark, looked rather relaxed in the middle.
The Indians got the opposition out for 184, which asserted the ineptness of the Bangladesh batsmen, unprepared for this level of cricket, more than India's authority. Ashraful, the only Bangladeshi batsmen to show resolve, was left stranded on an unbeaten 60 from 135 balls.
