da dobrowin： A torrent of runs took India to a mammoth 610 for 3 declared before Zaheer Khan sprung life out of a lifeless surface and helped reduce Bangladesh to 58 for 5 at the close of a bat-dominated day two in Dhaka
da lvbet： The Bulletin by Jamie Alter26-May-2007
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
Dinesh Karthik was one of four centurions on a day that India dominated fully © AFP
A torrent of runs took India to a mammoth 610 for 3 declared before ZaheerKhan found proof of life in a comatose surface to reduce Bangladesh to58 for 5 at the close of a bat-dominated day two in Dhaka. Rahul Dravid,Dinesh Karthik and Sachin Tendulkar all made centuries, the first instanceof Nos 1 to 4 crossing three figures, and accounted for 381 runs betweenthem. In sharp contrast, Bangladesh’s top three were back in the hutinside three overs to round off a great day for India.Zaheer gave India the perfect start with the ball. Javed Omar poked at thevery first delivery and edged to Karthik at third slip. Two gullys andpoint came in and RP Singh needed just four deliveries to remove aclueless Habibul Bashar, edging a lifter to the keeper. Zaheer made it 7for 3 when he bowled a leaden-footed Shahriar Nafees for 2 and the verynext delivery jagged back to strike Mohammad Ashraful flush on the pads,leaving umpire Billy Doctrove with the easiest of decisions.Shakib Al Hasan drove the hat-trick ball to the point boundary and wasthen dropped by Karthik at third slip. It wasn’t his only gaffe. Fiveballs later, he let off Rajin Saleh at the same position. Ramesh Powar tooshowed his generosity, giving Shakib another life at point.Anil Kumble got his first bowl of the series and joined the fun with hisfourth ball, as Saleh prodded a topspinner to forward short leg. The firstthree bowlers had all taken a wicket in their first over, and whereBangladesh had taken three in close to two days, India needed a mere 16overs to get five.The day began as it ended for India. Dravid set the ball rolling with his24th hundred, Karthik notched up his maiden one and Tendulkar ground outhis 37th. Dravid looked the best of the lot, picking up ones and twos atwill and hitting out when he felt the need. He got as far as 129 beforespooning one to point, when just five adrift of the record stand for thefirst wicket (413), set by Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad against New Zealandin 1955-56.Karthik resumed on 82 and quickly raised three figures from the ballbefore lunch. On Friday, he had put in the hard yards and after he reachedthe landmark he played some aggressive shots, an indication that he knewthe plot from there. He slammed Mortaza over mid-off for four and loftedRafique over the on-side, but on 130, he top-edged a pull off a ranklong-hop from Mortaza.Where Dravid was fluent and Karthik almost urgent, Tendulkar, the fourthcenturion, lost much of what little momentum he had in the first session.On the stroke of tea, however, he tapped one to leg and sprinted down tothe other end and three figures. In the company of Mahendra Singh Dhoni,who typically wasted no time with an unbeaten 51 from 50 balls, Tendulkartrundled on to 122 before Dravid called time on the innings.It was one-way traffic from the moment India were put in to bat, and it was no different when it was the Bangladeshis’ turn.
