India failed to go for the kill after having Bangladesh on the mat as the first cricket Test seemed headed towards a draw on the fourth day on Monday.
CHITTAGONG: India failed to go for the kill after having Bangladesh on the mat as the first cricket Test seemed headed towards a draw on the fourth day on Monday.
Bangladesh, who were staring at follow-on at tea with their innings tottering at 160 for 8, managed to extricate themselves from the tight situation, thanks to a blistering knock of 79 from late order bat Mashrafe Mortaza.
Mortaza delighted the sparse crowd at the Bir Srestha Shahid Ruhul Amin stadium, plundering seven boundaries and three sixes during his 140-minute stay to stretch the Bangladesh first innings to 238 in reply to India's 387 for 9 declared.
Gaining a first innings lead of 149, India were 44 for 2, at stumps, on a day of high drama, when 14 wickets fell as the match had its first full day unaffected by the rains. Dinesh Kaarthick (15) and Sachin Tendulkar (24) were in the middle at the break.
With a day's play remaining, India now are 193 runs ahead of the hosts, and the first two hours' play on Tuesday could be crucial if one hopes for a decision.
The visitors were in the driver's seat at tea, as Bangladesh still needed 28 runs to make their rivals back again.
But Mortaza carried the attack into the Indian camp with some lusty hitting, adding 79 runs for the ninth wicket with Shahadat Hossain (31) in only 75 minutes.
The pair took Bangladesh past the magic figure of 188, as Shahadat Hossain slashed Zaheer Khan over the slips to the fence to take the team total from 186 for 8 to 190 for 8.
However, Mortaza was lucky to survive a difficult chance of the previous ball, as he pulled Zaheer to mid on, but Powar spilled the catch despite bravely diving to his left.
The two fired on, taking Bangladesh past the 200 mark, before Tendulkar finally succeeded in separating them with a googly that dislodged the stumps.
The Bangladesh innings came to an end soon after, as Mortaza failed to read a yorker from V R V Singh and was bowled.
The Indian second innings got off to a double jolt, as Wasim Jaffer got a 'pair' - following up his first ball duck in the opening essay with another innings that did not bother the scorer and skipper Rahul Dravid (2) was also dismissed cheaply. Pacer Shahadat Hossain claimed both the scalps.
India were then 6 for 2, but Kaarthick and Sachin Tendulkar played out the remaining overs without any more hiccups.
It was a heartening sight as the sun came out this morning to dispel the gloom on the cricket field where around 12 hours' of playing time, including the full day on Sunday, was lost due to the rains since the first day.
India, resuming at 384 for 6, declared their innings after only 11 minutes as they lost Zaheer Khan (0) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (36).
Anil Kumble, unbeaten on 1 when play ended on Saturday, did not come on to bat as he was struck down by flu, and Zaheer accompanied Dhoni into the middle.
Bangladesh pacers Mashrafe and Shahadat Hossain claimed four and three wickets respectively.
But the Indian new ball bowlers returned the compliments to the hosts with R P Singh claiming Javed Omar (7) and Habibul Bashar (0) before Shahriyar (32) fell to Zaheer Khan as Bangladesh reached 49 for 3 at lunch.
Post lunch, Dravid opted for a pace-spin attack deploying Ramesh Powar and Zaheer, but RP replaced the left-arm pacer soon after he tasted his third success immediately.
Mohammad Ashraful played off the shoulder of the bat and Kaarthick stretched himself fully towards his left to take the catch. Bangladesh were 58/4.
There followed a 56-run stand for the fifth wicket between Rajin Saleh and Saqibul Hasan that raised visions of a Bangladesh recovery.
Saleh played confidently and struck two consecutive boundaries of Zaheer, who did not look at his best.
The 100 of the innings was posted in 34.6 overs, as Saleh dispatched V R V Singh past mid off into the ropes, but Saqibul (27) departed 12 balls later as he was unlucky to play the same bowler on to his stumps.
Bangladesh had half the side back into the dressing room with only 114 runs on the board, but there was a further setback in the offing in the next over.
Powar, making his debut, celebrated his first Test wicket when Saleh (41) miscued a cut and Sourav Ganguly brought off a diving catch at point. Saleh stayed at the wicket for 150 minutes and faced 80 balls, hitting half a dozen boundaries.
Former skipper and wicket-keeper batsman Khaled Mashud also did not last long, as he tried to flick V R V and was adjudged leg before.
However, television replays indicated that the ball might have hit the bat first. VRV had figures of 7-3-26-2 in his first spell after lunch.
Mohammed Rafique (9) was stumped by Dhoni of Powar, who got his second Test scalp.
Rahul Dravid fell to a brilliant catch by Saleh at square leg.
The Indian captain tried to flick, but could not execute the shot properly, and Saleh, doing duty at square leg, flung himself in the air and took a one handed catch, giving the photographers perhaps the most prized moment of the match.
Scoreboard
India 1st innings:
Wasim Jaffer b Mortaza 0
D. Kaarthick c Ashraful b Mortaza 56
R. Dravid c Mashud b Shahadat 61
S. Tendulkar c Ashraful b Shahadat 101
S. Ganguly c Rafique b Mortaza 100
M. Dhoni c Omar b Mortaza 36
R. Powar b Rafique 7
A. Kumble retired hurt 1
Zaheer Khan c Mashud b Shahadat 0
V. Singh not out 1
Extra (b-2 lb-8 w-2 nb-12) 24
Total (eight wickets dec., 98.5 overs) 387
Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-124 3-132 4-321 5-366 6-381 7-384 8-387
Bowling: Mashrafe Mortaza 24.5-5-97-4, Shahadat Hossain 18-1-76-3, Mohammad Rafique 24-3-99-1, Enamul Haque jnr 15-0-59-0, Saqibul Hasan 13-2-29-0, Mohammad Ashraful 1-0-5-0, Rajin Saleh 3-1-12-0
Bangladesh 1st innings:
Javed Omar lbw b RP Singh 7
Shahriar Nafees c Tendulkar b Zaheer 32
Habibul Bashar c Tendulkar b RP Singh 0
Rajin Saleh c Ganguly b Powar 41
Mohammad Ashraful c Kaarthick b RP Singh 5
Saqibul Hasan b VRV Singh 27
Khaled Mashud lbw b VRV Singh 2
Mashrafe Mortaza batting 33
Mohammad Rafique st Dhoni b Powar 9
Shahadat Hossain batting 1
Extras (w-3) 3
Total (for 8 wkts in 53 overs) 160
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-20, 3-47, 4-58, 5-114, 6-116, 7-122, 8-149.
Bowling: Zaheer 12-1-39-1, R P Singh 15-2-30-3, V Singh 13-4-47-2, Powar 13-1-44-2.
India, 2nd Innings
W Jaffer c Bashar b Hossain 0
D Kaarthik not out 15
R Dravid c Saleh b Hossain 2
S Tendulkar not out 24
Extras (1lb, 1w, 1nb) 3
Total (for 2 wkts, 14 overs) 44
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-6.
Bowling: Shahadat Hossain 6-3-18-2, Mashrafe Mortaza 4-1-12-0, Mohammad Rafique 3-0-7-0, Enamul Haque 1-0-6-0
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