Ganguly cap‘ton’s; India beat Bangladesh

India made three Ch(opr)anges to their playing eleven – Ajay Jadeja, Nikhil and Venkatesh Prasad made way for One-day International debutant Hemang Badani, Thirunavukkarasu Kumaran and Sunil Joshi.

Bangladesh made five changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Athar Ali Khan, Minhajul Abedin, Khaled Mahmud, Hasibul Hossain and Anisur Rahman made way for Shahriar Hossain, Javed Omar, Habibul Bashar, One-day International debutant Mushfiqur Rahman and Manjural Islam.

On winning the toss, Aminul Islam, Bangladesh’s skipper, chose to bat. Omar, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored a run. Twenty balls into the match, Kumaran broke the two-run stand. Shahriar, whose 34-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 11. Thirty-nine balls later, he was caught by Joshi. Kumaran broke the 28-run stand.

Bashar, whose 96-ball (Sach)innings included three boundaries and a six, scored 57. His 50 came off 87 balls in 130 minutes. A hundred and thirty-seven balls later, he was caught by Mohammad Azharuddin. Tendulkar broke the 94-run partnership.

While Bangladesh’s 50 came off 14.3 overs in 77 minutes, their 100 came off 26 overs in 117 minutes. Rain stopped play at 25.2 overs, hence the reserve day had to be used. Aminul, whose 72-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 47. A dozen balls later, he was caught by Anil Kumble. Needless to say, Tendulkar was in seventh heaven.

Akram Khan, whose 52-ball innings included eight boundaries and a six, scored 64. Eighty-two balls later, he was caught by Badani. Ajit Agarkar broke the 103-run partnership. His 50 came off 47 balls in 67 minutes.

While Bangladesh’s 150 came off 45.3 overs in 165 minutes, their 200 came off 26 overs in 200 minutes. Naimur Rahman, whose 38-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, scored 39. He was unbeaten.

Mohammad Rafique, whose eight-ball innings included a six, scored five. Half-a-dozen balls later, Kumaran broke the nine-run stand. Enamul Haque, who faced three balls, scored five. He was unbeaten.

Rahul D(rav)id the wicketkeeping duties, because Saba Karim had to go off the ground, as he was hit by a Kumble delivery. India conceded 17 extras. Bangladesh scored 249 for the loss of six wickets off 50 overs.

Badani, who bowled a wicketless over, conceded half-a-dozen. Sourav Ganguly, India’s skipper and the player of the match, and Robin Singh bowled four wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 35, the latter conceded 11. Joshi, who bowled seven wicketless overs, conceded 31.

Kumble, who bowled nine wicketless overs, conceded 43. Agarkar bowled 10 overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 37, picking up a wicket. Tendulkar, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 24. He picked up a couple of wickets. Kumaran, who bowled nine overs, conceded 54. He picked up three scalps.

Ganguly, whose 124-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries and seven sixes, scored 135. He was unbeaten. While his 50 came off 52 balls in 72 minutes, his 100, which came off 104 balls, included four boundaries and five sixes.

Tendulkar, whose 25-ball innings included four boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 36. Sixty-seven balls into the chase, he was caught by Bashar. Rahman broke the 85-run partnership. India’s 50 came off seven overs in 32 minutes.

Badani, whose 51-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 35. Eighty balls later, he was caught by Aminul. Enamul broke the 67-run partnership. India’s 100 came off 15.1 overs in 72 minutes. Azharuddin, whose 43-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 35. He was unbeaten.

Bangladesh conceded 11 extras. India, who scored 252 for the loss of two wickets off 40.1 overs, won by eight wickets with 59 balls to spare. Bashar, who bowled two wicketless overs, conceded 14.

Manjural and Rafique bowled seven wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 54, the latter conceded 48. Naimur, who bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceded 45. Enamul, who bowled five overs, conceded 28. He picked up a wicket, as did Mushfiqur, who bowled 9.1 overs, conceding 59.