Sachin Tendulkar 45th Test Century and Rahul Dravis 29thIndia to take a big lead of 226 runs in the first inning with five wickets still in their bag. However India will have little problem in their hand with Rahul Dravid is injured with broken jaw and Yuvraj Singh with problem in his left wrist, which means these two is unlikely to bat in this match. Test century helped
So now all depends on Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni to get the lead closer to 300 runs to put Bangladesh under tremendous pressure to save the game.
The Indian top order looks in superb touch on day two of the 2nd test match at Mirpur, with the opening duo Virendra Sehwag (56 runs) and Gautam Gambhir (68 runs) hitting a half-century and then Rahul Dravid (111* runs) and Sachin Tendulkar (143 runs) put on 222 runs partnership for the third wicket to put India on commanding position before Dravid was hit by bouncing delivery from S.Hossain to get injured.
At stumps on day two, Indians were 459/5, with Harbhajan Singh getting out in the last over of the day. The opening partnership between Sehwag and Gambhir of 103 runs provided the perfect launching pad for the batsman to follow and the two experienced duo did what situation required by putting another century partnership, which is now record.
Sachin and Dravid so far have put on century partnership for the seventeen times which is the highest by any pair in the test cricket history. Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar eclipsed the 16 century-plus partnership record shared by the Mathew Hayden-Ricky Ponting (Australia) and Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes (West Indies) pairs.
The both batsman were lucky before reaching the triple figure mark, Tendulkar's cause was helped by Raqibul Hasan, who twice dropped him - first off Rubel Hossain when on 27 and off Shahadat on 50. Dravid too had his share of good fortune. Batting on 28, he was caught at slip off Rubel Hossain but it turned out to be a no-ball.
From here on now India will look to post the lead in excess of 300 runs to make sure they do not have to bat again in this test match.
Match Summary (Day2 Stump)
Bangladesh 1st Inning– 242/10 in 65.2 Overs
Mahmudullah- 96*Md.Ashraful– 39
Ishant Sharma- 18-3-66-4Zaheer Khan– 19-3-62-3
India 1st Inning– 459/5 in 102.5 Overs
S.Tendulkar- 143R.Dravid– 111*
Shafiul Islam–17.5-1-70-2Shakib Al Hasan- 27-0-108-2
Indian seamers performed exceptionally well which helped India to restrict Bangladesh to 233 runs but it could have been worst for the Bangladeshi if their lower order batsman Mahmudullah not contributed valuable 96 runs for them. At close of first days play Indians were 69 without loss with Virendra Sehwag batting on 41 runs with Gautam Gambhir batting on 26 runs.
The opening day belong to two Indian pacers Ishant Sharma (4/66) and Zaheer Khan (3/62) as they decimated the Bangladesh top and middle order to reduce the hosts to 127 for seven. At this stage they were looking like having bowled out for below 150 but Mahmudullah once again came fighting hard for them and he went on to add another 106 runs with the lower order.
For the last two wickets he has added 78 runs which guided Bangladesh score to some respectability. Mahmudullah's was a sterling 156-ball knock studded with 13 fours. He must be regret after missing his hundred as he left unbeaten at one end just four short of his maiden test century.
With this effort Bangladesh must promote him up the order because he looks far more comfortable against Ishant, Zaheer, Harbhajan and P.Ojha than the other top order batsmen.
Bangladesh have only themselves to blame for this situation, as some of their start players like Mohammad Ashraful (39 runs) and Shakib Al Hasan (30 runs) got out to appalling strokes.
P.Ojha also picked up three wickets while Harbhajan grabbed the last one.
Now it’s up to Indian batsman to make mistake and allow Bangladesh to get back into the game. But by seeing the strokes making of Sehwag and Gambhir during 13 overs of play, it’s look like they are in hurry to wipe out the 164-run deficit and then push for a big total to bat the hosts out of the match and complete a 2-0 rout in the series.
Bangladesh must have gained some confidence and experience after showing fight in the first test match which they would like to in cash in the second test match to be played at Mirpur against the Number one ranked India starting 24th January 2010.
Having said that it will not be an easy task for the Bangladesh to beat India with so much batsman looking in superb touch. Bangladesh bowlers performed exceptionally well in the first test match the culprit was their batsman who failed to take the initiative set by their bowlers after restricting India to 243.
India will miss some of their key players but they will certainly be boosted by the return of MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh. India, for their part, are unlikely to be as sloppy as they were in Chittagong.
Indian batsmen except Yuvraj Singh who manages just 12 and 25 runs in two innings are looked in good touch. Specially Gambhir and Tendulkar. Both will look forward to score a century to add another one to their tally before playing the big series against South Africa at home starting February 6th.
Indian pacers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan also looking in good rhythm and that is good news for India as Sharma is more dangerous bowler when he bowls with his rhythm.
Bangladesh batting will once again heavily rely on Tamim Iqbal, M.Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan. The key to scoring big will depend on how these three players perform with the bat for them.
Watch out for
Gautam Gambhir: What a player he is? He is now the New Wall of India. In last eighteen months or so he has shown to the world what he can do with bat, In his last 10 test matches he has scored more that 50 plus score in each game with five consecutive century to his name. He needs one more to equal the world record of Sir Donald Bradman. So it will be interesting to see how he cope up with the pressure put on him by many peoples to equal the record.
Virendra Sehwag v Shakib Al Hasan: So far in two innings in the first test match Bangladesh Captain Shakib Al Hasan wins the battle. This must be playing in the mind of Sehwag and it will be interesting to see what tactics he applies while facing Shakib Al Hasan in the second test match at Mirpur.
Pitch & Condition
The pitch at Shere Bangla Stadium, Mirpur will be full of runs for the first three days. So team winning the toss would love to have bat first and put huge runs on the board. As the game progresses spinners will crucial role to play in this test match. With sunshine expected for next five days the seamers will have difficulty getting the movement they have enjoyed in the first test match.
Teams
S.Sreesanth and V.V.S Laxman already ruled out of the series because of injuries. However good news for team India is the lucky captain M.S.Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is fit and will play the second test match. M.Vijay is likely to take injured Laxman place that means Dinesh Karthik will have to sit out of this game. India is likely to go into the game with two spinners Harbhajan and P.Ojha (as per Dhoni preference). He preferred Ojha more than leg-spinner Amit Mishra.
Bangladesh on the other hand with fewer options in their bag are likely to go in the crucial game with same team as in the first test match.
Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 08:30 AM India Time)
Bangladesh Squad: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Ashraful,Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Raqibul Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Shafiul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Rubel Hossain.
Stats & Trivia
So far India have 100% winning record at Dhaka. They have won all three matches they have played here and two of the matches they have won by an inning.
Gautam Gambhir needs one more century to equal the world record of consecutive century in the six games, it is previously held by Sir Donald Bradman.
Indian cricket team after finishing the home series against Sri Lankan will fly to Bangladesh to play two matches test series and a tri-angular series involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The triangular series will start from January 4th 2010. Each team will face each others twice before the final on January 13 to be played at Dhaka.
The two Tests against Bangladesh will be held in Chittagong and Mirpur (Dhaka) from Jan. 17-21 and January 24-28, respectively.
Because of dew now the remain four game of Triangular series will start half-cn hour earlier than the scheduled time starting from January 8th 2010.
India v Bangladesh 2010 Fixtures (All timings are mentioned in GMT+05:30)
The day four completely belongs to India, in which first they have compiled a huge score with the help of fifth consecutive Test century from Gautam Gambhir (116 runs) and then taken two wickets to end day on a high note.
With inexperienced batting lineup ahead for Bangladesh it will be interesting to see how they tackle the fifth day pressure to save a game from the hands of world number one ranked test team. When play called-off Mohammad Ashraful (16 runs) and Tamim Iqbal (23 runs) was at the crease.
Earlier Gautam Gambhir scored his ninth test century and fifth in consecutive test to help his team to score some quick runs and put pressure on the home side. He is the only Indian to have scored five in a row and only the fourth international, after Don Bradman, Jacques Kallis and Mohammad Yousuf to do so. Only Bradman has hit six successive hundreds.
Night watchman Amit Mishra also went on to score his maiden test fifty. Mishra's previous highest was 24 against Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad in November 2009. But Mishra soon departed after completing his half-century.
Gambhir fell cutting debutant seamer Shafiul Islam to Nafees at third man a few overs after reaching his ninth Test hundred in 28 matches. Sachin Tendulkar (16 runs) and Yuvraj Singh (25 runs) both fell quickly looking for some quick runs.
However V.V.S.Laxman (69 runs) hold one end firmly and helped India to increase the lead to more than 400 runs. Finally Virendra Sehwag declared Indian innings at 413/8 in the 87th over of an innings.
Now Bangladesh needs another 348 runs to win the test match with eight wickets on the bag on the other hand India need 8 wickets to wrap-up this test match.
Match Summary (Day4 Stump)
India 1st Inning– 243/10 in 70.5 Overs
S.Tendulkar- 105*V.Sehwag– 52
Shakib Al Hasan– 29.5-10-62-5 S.Hossain- 18-2-71-5
Bangladesh 1st Inning– 242/10 in 65.2 Overs
Mahmudullah- 69M.Rahim– 44
Zaheer Khan– 20-4-54-3A.Mishra- 16.2-2-66-3
India 2nd Inning– 413/8 dec. in 87 Overs
G.Gambhir- 116V.V.S. Laxman– 69*
Mahmudullah– 13-0-52-2Shakib Al Hasan - 27-2-112-2
On the eve of the game Virendra Sehwag made a bold statement in front of media by stating that Bangladesh is an ordinary team and they don’t have capability to take 20 Indian wickets. But just after 1st days of play they have already taken eight of the 20 wickets and if they bowled and bat well in the rest of the game then it will be more disaster for Sehwag and team India.
When bad light stops play on day1 India were reeling at 213/8 with Sachin Tendulkar batting on 76 and Ishant Sharma on 1 run. It was only Tendulkar who stood firm and saved India from being bowled out for less than 200. Now all eyes on Sachin to get India closer to 300 run marks.
During the course of his 55th Test half-century, Tendulkar also crossed the 13,000 runs mark in the longer format of the game. He became the only batsman to achiev the milestone.
Earlier Bangladesh Captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and put India into bat, as expected both opening pair of Sehwag (52 runs) and Gambhir (23 runs) given a perfect start for his team by putting on 79 runs for the opening wicket. But once Sehwag departed Indian batsmen fall like a pack of card.
From 79/0, Indian score suddenly became 150/6. But thanks to Sachin who put on some crucuial partnership with Amit Mishra (14 runs) and Zaheer Khan (11 runs) of 32 runs and 27 runs for the seventh and eighth wicket to get pass Indian total to 200 runs.
For Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan and S.Hossain picked up four wickets each. Both bowlers bowled well but they have to thank Indian batsmen also for throwing their wickets away by playing some over confidance strokes.
Dhoni and Harbhajan both are not playing this match because of back and neck problem respectively.Dinesh Karthik and Amit Mishra were included in the playing XI.
With India reaching the Final with three consecutive wins and having beaten Sri Lanka in their last league games they seems to be the front runner for the tri-series IDEA CUP 2010. However toss will play an important role on deciding which way the pendulum will swing.
In last eighteen months both teams have played each other very frequently so they know their weak and strong points. Sri Lanka after putting a dismal performance in their last league game against India will hope for much better performance in the big Finale.
India on the other hand will be boosted by the return of Virendra Sehwag in the squad after having missed the last two games. Indian bowling and fielding looks good in the last two games and that will certainly helped Captain Dhoni to calm down a bit before the big Final at Shere Bangla Stadium, Mirpur.
Sri Lanka on the other hand will hope for a good show by their two prime batsmen T.Dilshan and Kumar Sangakara. Both are in good form and needs to deliver with the bat in a big crunch game like this. M.Jayawardne and T.Samarweera are also in good form and they need to play supporting role for their team.
Their bowling looks little damp in their last game but with the captain like Sangakara behind the youngster can motivate them to perform better at big stage.
All in all we can expect a cracking game between these two teams in the big Final at Shere Bangla Stadium, Mirpur.
Watch out for
Tilakratne Dilshan: Because of injury he may have missed few games, but now he is fully fit and looking dangerous for India. His short stay at the crease in the last league game provided full entertainment for the viewer and more headaches for the Indians for the Final. If he gets going then it will be another failure for India in the Final.
Virat Kohli: This young man is superb touch in this tournament scoring an aggregate 273 runs at an average of 91. He is making full justice for the opportunity he is getting in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar. He will eye to end this unforgettable tournament on high note.
Pitch & Condition
This will be brand new pitch with little grass on it. However batting will get easier as the game progresses. The dew factor will play vital role in the game, so team winning the toss is likely to have a bowl first. So far in the tournament side batting second has won on all six consecutive occasions. Team batting first must score in excess of 300 runs to cut out the risk of dew.
Teams
Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan who missed the last few games are likely to be back in the playing XI.
Sri Lanka is likely to bring Nuwan Kulasekara into the playing xi in place of S.Lakmal.
Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 13:30 PM India Time)
When both teams play in the final of the tri-series, they will go past the record of playing most number of international games by any other two sides. This record is currently holds by Australia and West Indies.
In last six games at Shere Bangla Stadium, team batting second has won on all occasions.
Last time when these two teams mate in the Final involving more than two teams, Sri Lanka came out as winner beating India in the Asia Cup Final with the help of Mendis mystery.
Virat Kohli continued his superb form with the bat by hitting a superb unbeaten 102 runs of 95 balls as India thrashed Bangladesh by six wickets in the last league game of Idea Cup 2010.
With this win, India top the points table with 13 points while Sri LankaIndia will take on Sri Lanka in the Finale of the Tri-Series on Wednesday. ranked two in the points table. Now
Virat Kohli hit 11 fours in India successful run chase of 248 runs for victory.Gautam Gambhir (41 runs of 46 balls), Dinesh Karthik (34 runs of 39 balls) and M.S.Dhoni (32 runs of 35 balls) were the other major contributor during run chase.
With this knock, Birat Kohli became the leading run scorer in this tournament with aggregate of 273 runs at an average of 91 while Kumar Sangakara is behind him aggregated 219 runs from 4 games.
Earlier, Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss as usual decided to bowl first. Once again Indian bowlers look in good shape and rhythm having reduced Bangladesh to 95/5 in the 24th over. At this stage Bangladesh was looking in the dire state but thank to century partnership of 106 runs between Shakib Al Hasan (85 runs of 97 balls) and Mahmudullah (64* runs of 80 balls) Bangladesh manage to put a comparative total of 247/6 in their 50 overs.
Shakib Al Hasan struck eight boundaries and one six before being caught by Dhoni off Ashish Nehra. Mahmudullah hit five boundaries and one six in his unbeaten knock.
For the sixth consecutive time in the tournament the side batting second ended as a winner. And this is an indication of what to expect in the Final.
Virat Kohli was declared Player of the Match for his superb unbeaten century (102 runs of 95 balls).
India who has already qualified for the Idea Cup final will be keen to continue their winning streak when they will take on host Bangladesh in the last league game of Triangular series.
Bangladesh on the other hand will try to give their supporter something to cheer by performing well in their last league match. So far they have done well with the bat on all three occasions but some how their bowlers failed to restrict the opposition team below the target.
Toss will once again play an important role and team winning the toss is likely to have bowl first. So far team batting first has lost their matches in this series which is an indication of how badly game will get affected because of dew.
Watch out for
Shakib Al Hasan: He has already done enough justice for his side and himself and that’s why he is at 2nd position in the ICC ODI ranking table for the bowlers. He is one of the finest cricketer produced by Bangladesh, he can not only take wickets for his team but can also make useful runs whenever his team required from him So far he has not done well enough with the bat and will be eager to put a match winning performance for his side.
Yuvraj Singh: So far he is quite with the bat in the series except one half century against Sri Lanka. But with players of his caliber is likely to bounce back in quick time.
Pitch & Condition
The pitch at Shere Bangla Stadium will be same as used in the last game between India and Sri Lanka. Team winning the toss is likely to have a bowl first considering the dew factor. If India have to bat first then they would eye a score above 300 runs.
Teams
With India already in the Final of Idea Cup, they will look to give some of their players chance who has not played on this tour to make their mark. Players like Rohit Sharma, A.Dinda is likely to be included in the squad.
Bangladesh is likely to go with the same XI which last played against India.
Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 13:30 PM India Time)
Virat Kohli (71* runs of 68 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (71 runs of 86 balls) played a helping hand in India’s eight wicket win over Sri Lanka. With this win India secured their berth in the Final of Idea Cup 2010.
The Indian bowlers performed exceptionally well after long-long time, bowling out Sri Lanka for just 213 in 46.1 overs before their batting colleagues took over, guiding the team to 214 for two for a facile win that came with 17.2 overs to spare.
Indian fielders also done really well today and probably they have displayed one of the best fielding performance after long time which set up their thumping win.
Chasing a modest target of 214 runs for victory, India got of to flying start with Dinesh Karthik (48 runs of 40 balls) and Gautam Gambhir putting on 89 runs for the 1st wicket. Then Virat Kohli and Gambhir went on to put another half-century partnership of 72 runs for the second wicket.
In the end Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh put on 53 runs of just 27 balls to ensure an easy win over Sri Lanka.
Earlier Kumar Sangakra won the toss and decided to bat first knowing that dew factor will arrive at later part of the innings. It was his experiment which didn’t worked right for his team.
Sudeep Tyagi strikes in his very first over to give big blow to Sri Lanka removing Upul Tharanga for eighth duck of his ODIs career. Then Zaheer removed dangerous looking T.Dilshan (33 runs of 17 balls) to reduce the Sri Lankan score to 42/2 in the 6th over.
Captain Kumar Sangakara top-scored with a 78-ball 68 while rookie Suraj Randiv, who made his debut in the ODI series against India last month, contributed with a valuable 76-ball 56, his maiden half century.
Zaheer Khan was the pick of the bowlers, creating one half chance, and two fairly easy ones. Amit Mishra also bowled well with grabbing three wickets.
India and Sri Lanka played each other for the 120th time in ODIs. This equals the existing world record of most matches between any two countries. Australia and West Indies have also played 120 matches against each other. When both teams meet on Wednesday in the final of the tri-series, they will go past this record.
Now both teams will play with each other in the Final of Idea Cup on Wednesday but before that India will take on Bangladesh on Monday in the last league game.
Zaheer Khan was declared Player of the Match for his superb bowling display of 3/38.
India will eye a win against Sri Lanka to secure their berth in the Final of on going triangular series. Sri Lanka is yet to loose a game in the tournament and they would love to continue their winning habit going before playing in the final.
India will also look to register a thumping win to take the revenge of five wicket loss against Sri Lanka in their first match of the tournament. However they need to address certain areas which seem to be big worry factor for the Dhoni and company. Their top order batting and their depth bowling is creating big headaches for the team management.
No bowlers are looking in good rhythm. Same applies to the top Indian batters; they have not contributed enough for their teams in the two matches they have played so far. India needs a strong start from Sehwag and Gambhir if they have to beat Sri Lanka. Sehwag, in particular, would want to score big as he has not hit a hundred in Bangladesh.
Inspite of the problems, it is unlikely that Dhoni will change the playing XI which won against Bangladesh. But if he considers changing the playing xi then Ashish Nehra may get rest which allows S.Tyagi to prove his talent.
Sri Lanka on the other hand seems to be on a roll after winning three matches here, have been strengthened by the return of former Captain M.Jayawardne who hit a superb century against Bagladesh which allows his team to chase down 250 runs target with ease.
All in all Sunday’s game will provide us another chance to see these two teams in battle again.
Watch out for
Tilakratne Dilshan: He has recovered well from his groin injury and likely to return into the squad. It will be interesting to see how he approaches the game after return. He was in superb form before he got injured. With Upul Tharanga is in superb touch it makes more interesting to see both the deadly duo bat together.
Gautam Gambhir and Virendra Sehwag: These two batsmen failed to perform in the tournament as per their reputation but its just matter of few good shots to get their confidence back. If these two gets going it will be nightmare for the Sri Lankan bowlers.
Pitch & Condition
It will be the same pitch which was used in the game against Bangladesh. Despite of an early start teams bowling second have still struggled to grip the ball properly because of dew factors. So once again toss will play important role in deciding the result of the game. Team batting first must score in excess of 300 runs to cut out the rist of bolwing second.
Teams
India will think of making one changes, in place of Ashish Nehra India may bring Sudeep Tyagi into the squad. Since Nehra is not bowled well in the last three-four games.
Tilakratne Dilshan has recovered from groin injury and he is likely to be included in the squad which means last game centurion M.Jayawardne will drop to number four position.
Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 13:30 PM India Time)
India have played 20 games against Sri Lanka out of 46 ODI’s they have played in last 1 year. So both team known ins-outs of the opponents.
In the 10 day-night encounter at Shere Bangla Stadium, Mirpur seven has been won by team batting second and all seven win came in the last seven encounters.
