India T(endulka)rounce Bangladesh and advance

While India made no changes to their playing eleven, Bangladesh made five changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Javed Omar, Sajjad Ahmed, Rafique, Saiful Islam and Anisur Rahman (Moham)made way for Naimur Rahman, Mafizur Rahman, Hasibul Hossain, Sheikh Salahuddin and One-day International debutant Zakir Hasan.

The match, which commenced an hour after the scheduled start, was reduced to a 47-overs-a-side match. It was eventually reduced to a 43-overs-a-side match, when the rain returned. On winning the toss, Tendulkar, India’s skipper, (Sach)inserted Bangladesh.

Naimur, who faced a ball, didn’t open his account. He was trapped leg before wicket by Abey Kuruvilla, who broke the two-run stand. Minhajul Abedin, who faced 22 (Sa)balls, scored three. He was caught by Karim. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 10-run stand.

Athar Ali Khan, whose 69-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 33. He was trapped leg before wicket by Tendulkar, who broke the 45-run partnership. Aminul Islam, whose 57-ball (Rob)innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 30. He was caught by Anil Kumble. Singh broke the 22-run stand.

Bangladesh captain Akram Khan, whose 24-ball innings included a boundary, scored 11. He was caught by Ajay Jadeja. Kumble who broke the 13-run stand. Khaled Mashud, whose 30-ball innings included a boundary, scored a dozen. He was caught by Sourav Ganguly, the player of the match. Singh broke the eight-run stand.

The seventh-wicket pair put on four. Enamul Haque, who faced eight balls, scored four. He was run out by Ganguly. Mafizur, whose 30-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 15. He was unbeaten.

The eighth-wicket pair failed to get off the mark. Hasibul, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t get off the mark. He was trapped leg before wicket by Singh. Salahuddin, who faced 18 balls, scored three. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 19 extras. Bangladesh scored 130 for the loss of eight wickets off 43 overs. Ganguly bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 24. Tendulkar, who bowled five overs, conceded 18. He picked up a wicket.

Kuruvilla, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 28. He picked up a wicket. Prasad bowled seven overs, including a maiden. He conceded 15, picking up a wicket. Kumble bowled 10 overs, including three maidens. He conceded 17, picking up a wicket. Singh bowled nine overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 13, picking up three scalps.

The Indians needed 131 to win in 20 overs to qualify for the final on run rate. Ganguly, whose 52-ball innings included eight boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 73. He was unbeaten. 

Tendulkar, whose 21-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 28. Haque broke the 54-run stand. Mohammad Azharuddin, whose 20-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 23. He was unbeaten.

Bangladesh conceded eight extras. India, who scored 132 for the loss of one wicket off 15 overs, won by nine wickets with 28 overs to spare. Hasan, Mafizur and Abedin bowled a couple of wicketless overs apiece. They conceded 17, 16 and 13, respectively.

Hossain and Salahuddin bowled three wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 25, the latter conceded 22. The eighth over of the innings – bowled by Salahuddin – was a seven-ball over (allowed by Sri Lankan umpire K T Francis). Haque, who bowled three overs, conceded 34. He picked up the only wicket to fall.