The Great Game Called Cricket...

Bangladesh in a tearing hurry
India's fast bowlers were perhaps expecting to be eased back into top-flight cricket and the tournament against the lightweight Bangladesh side. They were in for a shock as Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes came out punching. Kayes cracked three fours off Zaheer's first over, and Tamim cut and flicked Praveen for plenty, which meant Bangladesh were 35 for 0 in 2.4 overs.

Shakib is bamboozled
Harbhajan Singh usually enjoys bowling in Sri Lanka, as 47 wickets and an economy-rate of 3.93 indicate. Today was no different; the highlight of his spell being the delivery that tricked Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan. A flighted ball, Shakib moved forward and played for the spin, but the ball fizzed straight on through the bat-pad gap to knock back the stumps.

Sehwag the destroyer
Seeing Virender Sehwag derail the opposition with his batting is a common sight, but seeing him spin out the opposition is a rare occurrence. He ran through the tail today, nipping out three wickets in four deliveries, the grin on his face getting wider with each scalp. Sehwag finished with 4 for 6; in 17 deliveries he had taken as many wickets as he had in the past 17 months.

Bad floodlights stop play
Lasith Malinga had already complained about the quality of the lights at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium in the opening match, and there was more floodlight-related trouble today. Two of them didn't work for a while due to a generator outage, causing India's chase to be interrupted midway through the 10th over. The players took their dinner, during which the problem was sorted.

A decision after much deliberation
After Virat Kohli was beaten by the turn, wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim quickly took off the bails just as Kohli was dragging his foot back into the crease. It took plenty of replays to determine whether Kohli had made his ground or if he had been caught on the crease. As the third umpire Ranmore Martinesz deliberated, a section of the crowd started to scream "Out, out", promptly countered by chants of "Not out" from another set of fans. The matter was resolved when Martinesz sent Kohli on his way.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has asked his team-mates to perform as a unit instead of playing as individuals following his team's six-wicket defeat to India in Dambulla.

"We played well as individuals but not as a team, that's an area we need to improve on a lot," Shakib told reporters after Bangladesh were bowled out 167 in 34.5 overs in their first Asia Cup match. "We need to climb one step ahead and put team performances together, only then can we win some games. That's the main area we have to concentrate on.

"We are playing against teams better than us and we need to work out every time we go out and play. But it's not been happening for the last six months. We are trying our level best and have been working hard at our game."

Bangladesh's next game is against hosts Sri Lanka on Friday, and Shakib said his team needed to work harder on the disciplines that let them down against India. "Our middle-order batsmen didn't play well and against spin," he said. "Sri Lanka has some very good spinners and we need to discuss at the team meeting and do some assessment so that we can do well in next game."

Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, Bangladesh's openers, had raced to 35 off 2.5 overs and at 155 for 4 in the 30th over, Bangladesh looked like setting India a stiff target to chase under lights. The introduction of Virender Sehwag's off-breaks in the 31st over, however, triggered a collapse and six wickets tumbled for 12 runs - the last four falling without a run being added to the total. "Though we lost there are some positives we can take from this game especially the way the top order batsmen started off," Shakib said. "In the first 10 overs we played really well, but it needs to be continued with our middle order batsmen."

After Tuesday's hard-fought tournament opener, the second match turned into another chapter of the Asia's Cup long history of one-sided encounters. India won't be complaining though after a hassle-free victory over Bangladesh in a match in which they welcomed seven regulars back to the XI.

Sterner tests lie in wait but the Indian management will be satisfied that three players returning from injuries - Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Virender Sehwag - didn't show any fitness trouble. Zaheer and Praveen had some problems early on against the rampant Bangladesh openers, but recovered after the brief onslaught. Sehwag, in fact, had shrugged off his shoulder worries so much that he wiped out the Bangladesh tail to finish with career-best figures.

Once the bowlers had done the job, Gautam Gambhir orchestrated the chase with another sensible innings that was more about placement than power. A strike-rate of 80 is pedestrian in most one-dayers these days, but with a tiny target on a track which wasn't tailor-made for batting, it was sufficient.

Gambhir said it took a while to switch to one-day pace after playing months of Twenty20. "When you are in Twenty20 mode you want to really hit the ball and these aren't the conditions for that," he said. "You have to graft your way through, and initially I was thinking of hitting the ball before I realised I have 50 overs, and not 20, to play."

Another factor to which the players must adjust to in Dambulla is the slightly dim floodlights, which Lasith Malinga talked about on Tuesday and MS Dhoni commented on after today's game. India will be thankful their batsmen got their first chance to play under lights when the requirements for a win weren't taxing. Adding to the floodlight trouble is the fact that it gets harder to bat as the match progresses.

"If you saw the last game also, the ball does a lot more [under lights] than in the afternoon," Gambhir said, "the kind of atmosphere here, the kind of breeze and kind of wickets here, it would definitely do a lot, anything around 250-260 will be a very good total on this track."

India's job was made easier by an all-too-familiar Bangladesh collapse after the top-order had galloped to 77 for 1 after 13 overs. There was a rash of bad strokes, but the Indian spinners were spot on as well. "It [bowling Bangladesh out cheaply] was the prefect platform for the top-order batsman to just go out there, get used to the wicket, get used to the conditions, and try and play a long innings," Gambhir said.

The win also came as a relief after the dismal World Twenty20 campaign and the embarrassing defeats in Zimbabwe and Gambhir credited the break for refreshing him. "You come back fresh, you forget what happened at the World Twenty20, you have more energy and you are more eager to perform." Also, victory with the bonus point reduces the pressure to win in the high-profile match coming up against Pakistan, who can't afford another defeat after the opening-day defeat.

It wasn't all hunky-dory for India though. Gambhir wasn't near his best, and the finish could have been more interesting had Tamim hung on to a catch at third man off Gambhir soon after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were dismissed off successive deliveries. The ever-dependable Dhoni saw India through, but the youngsters missed out on a chance to get used to unfamiliar conditions. The pace department also needs improvement, though Zaheer was hostile in his second spell

Dhoni and his boys will face far tougher challenges in the rest of the tournament but they will be pleased to have not stumbled at the first hurdle.

Bangladesh may have moved from the cool climes of England to hot and humid Sri Lanka, but they don't seem to have left at customs the habit of wasting scintillating starts by the openers. They collapsed from 81 for 1 to 100 for 4, and then lost their last six wickets for 12 runs. While the first setback was mostly self-inflicted, it was Virender Sehwag's canny spin bowling that ran through the lower order. In reply, Gautam Gambhir didn't look a million dollars, but made a satisfactory return to the side, scoring 82 to see India through to a bonus point.

Sehwag's 17-ball effort for 4 for 6 was the joint second-cheapest four-wicket haul in ODIs, behind Phil Simmons' 4 for 3 against Pakistan in 1992. Before that, though, Bangladesh displayed a few of their usual failings. Not surprisingly it all began with Mohammad Ashraful.

Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal, as they did through the tour of England, got Bangladesh off to a flier. They treated Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan with contempt at the top of the innings. Cut, drive, the odd edge, and 35 were up in the third over. Tamim then got carried away and hit at one he wasn't close enough to. Suresh Raina came up with a diving catch, but Kayes carried on the good work.

It was impressive that, though he was beaten consistently in Zaheer's next two overs, Kayes kept his head, ending a spell of 11 straight dot balls with a punched boundary. Runs slowed down, mostly because Ashraful exaggeratedly kept leaving deliveries outside off. There was not much in the pitch or the bowling, and Ashraful's over-cautious approach hurt Bangladesh. There was not one single taken in the first 10 overs.

Kayes kept Bangladesh going with back-to-back boundaries off Nehra in the 12th over, but Ashraful was about to make his inevitable mistake. Soon after he managed one boundary, he attempted to go from first gear to fifth, and heaved Nehra to the only man on the square-leg boundary. Kayes made his mistake in Nehra's next over, being too slow in pulling a sharp bouncer. Shakib Al Hasan got a wicked straighter one from Harbhajan Singh, which could well have been intended to be an offbreak.

The pitch had started offering turn now, and Harbhajan and Ravindra Jadeja were tough to get away. From 100 for 4, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, both of whom survived close lbw calls, took Bangladesh to 155, when madness struck again. Jadeja finally got his reward with a flat delivery that caught Mahmudullah's edge.

Immediately after, Sehwag was introduced. He bowled with lovely flight, slight drift, and mixed straighter ones in as well. Mushfiqur bat-padded a flighted delivery that jumped at him from outside off. MS Dhoni saw that and brought on Rohit Sharma too, who got a lucky break, with Naeem Islam given out caught behind when it seemed the noise came from his bat hitting the ground.

In the next over Sehwag destroyed the tail. Suhrawadi Shuvo was fooled by the straighter one, Shafiul Islam swept all over an offbreak, and Syed Rasel was castled by another straighter one. Sehwag still had one ball left in what could have been a three-wicket maiden. Dhoni's choice of ends for bowlers was good: with a wind blowing across the ground, Sehwag and Harbhajan bowled from ends where they could get drift.

India looked good for a bonus point for most parts of their reply, except for a few anxious moments when Shakib removed Virat Kohli and Rohit in two deliveries to reduce the chase to 80 for 3. It would have amounted to something for Bangladesh had Tamim, at third man, hung on to a simple offering from Gambhir, a blow that would have made it 93 for 4. It could well have been the inadequate flood lighting that Lasith Malinga spoke about at work.

That drop apart, Gambhir batted well, working hard, running hard, putting behind the occasional play-and-miss, and scoring mainly through nurdles and chips. Along with Virender Sehwag, he provided India a brisk start. India were 37 in the seventh over when Sehwag edged one outside off.

Gambhir then settled down for a hard-working innings, and Mashrafe Mortaza and Syed Rasel did their bit in making him work. His most flashy shot of the innings was when he danced down the track and drove Mortaza through covers to reach 21 off 27, taking India to 46 in the ninth over. Post the supper break, Shafiul Islam and Shakib too kept the batsmen honest.

After Shakib's double blow in the 15th over, Gambhir nearly let Bangladesh back in when he played a weak upper-cut off Shafiul. Tamim got under it, but never looked confident during that attempt. Gambhir was 48 then. By the time he finally got out, India needed only 10, with nearly 20 overs to go.

Match Meter

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Bangladesh
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Tamim and Kayes start fierily: Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal treat Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan with contempt, reaching 35 in the third over, and 85 for 1 in the 14th

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India
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Bangladesh combust: Mohammad Ashraful ends his bizarre innings with a heave to square leg, Kayes is done in by a sharp bouncer from Ashish Nehra, and Shakib Al Hasan by a straighter one from Harbhajan Singh. 100 for 4

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India
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Tailspin: After a 55-run fifth-wicket stand, Bangladesh are blown away by … Virender Sehwag's spin. He takes 4 for 6 in 2.5 overs to bowl them out for 167.

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India
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Tamim drops Gambhir: After Shakib's double strike, Bangladesh are nearly onto something but Tamim at third man drops a simple offering from Gambhir, a blow that would have made it 93 for 4.

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India
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Gambhir sees India through: Gautam Gambhir doesn't look a million dollars, but makes a satisfactory return to the side, seeing India through to a bonus point with 82

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