Related Links : 2nd Test Scorecard : India in Bangladesh
Indian bowlers managed to take 15 Bangladeshi wickets on the third day’s play to wrap up the second test by an innings and 239 runs. A couple of entertaining batting moments came from the homeside but India had to bowl just the 78.4 overs today to pick as many as 15 wickets. Zaheer Khan was the man once again doing most of the damage.
The pitch on Day 3 was getting worse with the cracks widening, there was no way out for the Bangladeshis except a huge black cloud that was doing nothing but hovering over in the skies. The very second ball of the day, Zaheer got some extra swing to defeat the overnight batsman Saqibul Hasan’s defence to have him plumb infront of the offstump. India had to work hard for its next wicket with Mohammad Sharif offering a stubborn defence and Khaled Mashud in full control of his game. It was an Anil Kumble googly that foxed Sharif. Ishant Sharma got his maiden wicket when Mortaza had driven him away from his body to be taken at gully. India had little trouble in removing Rafique and then Mashud to finish the first innings of Bangladesh for a paltry118 runs which lasted just the 37.2 overs.
For Zaheer Khan, it was his fourth five-wicket haul. His figures were 10-1-34-5 and Anil Kumble, who had gone past the 550 wickets mark took 3 for 32 bowling just 9.2 overs. Bangladesh had a couple of overs to bat before lunch and there were off to a disastrous start once again with Javed Omar bagging a king pair. Omar was caught behind off Zaheer off the first ball of the innings but this time down the legside. It didn’t look like a convincing decision from the umpire but nevertheless the damage was done before the break with Bangladesh at 10 for 1 at lunch following on. In the second session, Habibul Bashar threw his wicket away going for a pull off Zaheer. Shahriar Nafees followed him after an over by getting caught down the legside by Dhoni off RP Singh.
At 10 for 3, Ashraful thought the only way he could do something was to attack the bowlers. With most of the fielders in attacking positions, the little man helped himself to boundaries after boundaries to give some entertainment for the crowd. Even before the bowlers could rethink their strategy, Ashraful raced away to a fifty in just the 26 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes. He got the support from the ever solid Rajin Saleh. Ashraful’s cameo came to an end when he failed to put a flick shot along the ground off Kumble to be taken low at mid wicket. The Vice-Captain of the Bangladesh team got a sparkling 67 from 41 balls with a dozen fours and two sixes. Surprisingly Saleh, who is known to accumulate his runs decided to go over the top to Ramesh Powar’s off breaks only to be taken safely by Ganguly at deep mid wicket. Saleh had got 42 from 46 with 8 fours. What was evident was the fact that none of the Bangladeshi batsmen showed any patience in this longer version of the game. India went into Tea with five more wickets to take for the win.
Khaled Mashud frustrated the Indians in the first innings with a solid 25 from 64 balls and in the second innings as well he looked to do the same. But just a short while after play had resumed in the last session, Mashud chipped one straight to mid wicket off Ramesh Powar. The remaining three wickets didn’t come in a hurry for the Indians. They were halted by a seriously good partnership between Sharif and Mortaza. The partnership that lasted for an hour was broken by Kumble, who beat Sharif in the flight to take a return catch. Once again Sharif, who had come into this match with a batting average of around 6.00 kept the Indians at bay by batting for a long time, this innings he had survived 56 balls. There was no one stopping Mortaza though, who registered his second half century of this series and also his career. He lost Rafique early as the left hander missed in connecting a sweep shot to a full length delivery from Tendulkar to be lbw. Once Syed Rasel came, Mortaza was taking most of the strike and refusing the singles. He got as many boundaries as he could before one of his big shots was miscued to be caught. It was Tendulkar finishing off things for his team with that wicket. Mortaza got his career best of 70 having played 68 balls with the help of 8 fours and 3 sixes. Bangladesh were bowled out in 57.3 overs for 253, just the slight improvement.
Ramesh Powar was the highest wicket taker in the second innings with 3 for 33 in 16 overs. Zaheer Khan, Kumble and Tendulkar picked up two wickets each. It’s the end of the tour for the Indians, the only disappointment is that they couldn’t get the clean sweep in both the One Dayers and the Test Series. Zaheer Khan was the Man of the Match for his 7 wickets in the match. Sachin Tendulkar was the Man of the Series for his two hundreds and a few wickets.