In-form Suresh Raina smashed his second century of the competition with a classy unbeaten 116 to lead India to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in a super four match of the Asia Cup at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.
Opener Gautam Gambhir pitched in with a strokeful 90 off 84 balls in the top order to set up the stage for Raina who hit 11 sixes and three fours in his 107-ball innings.
The superb batting by the two Indian left handers overshadowed a spectacular 115 runs from Alok Kapali who hit his maiden century to steer Bangladesh to their highest total of 283 for six against India.
India finished on a convincing 284 for three in 43.2 overs with Raina hitting the winning run, a single off Abdur Razzak, despite resting Virender Sehwag, Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla.
It was India's fourth straight win in the six-nation competition and it brought them closer to a place in the final as they now have four points in the super league stage having carried over two from the qualifying round.
Raina, who has been in excellent form in the competition, followed up his scores of 101 (against Hong Kong) and 84 (against Pakistan) with an unbeaten 116 from 107 balls reaching his second career hundred by glancing spinner Abdul Razzak for a boundary in the 40th over.
Raina and Gambhir put on a spectacular 139 from 133 balls for the third wicket while the centurion teamed up for an unbeaten stand of 89 from 70 balls with Yuvraj Singh (36) to finish off the match.
Raina's 100 from 93 balls included 10 fours and two sixes while Gambhir stroked 10 fours and one six in his 84-ball innings.
