Saturday, June 28, 2008

Raina outdoes Kapali-India beat Bangladesh by 7 wkts


Alok Kapali's dazzling 115 gave Bangladesh a fighting chance, but their inability to hold on to catches meant that India breezed past another stiff target for a comfortable seven-wicket victory over the Tigers at the National Stadium in Karachi yesterday.Two days after making mincemeat of 300 against Pakistan, they overhauled Bangladesh's 283 for six with 40 balls to spare in the Asia Cup Super League encounter by reaching 284 for the loss of three wickets.Suresh Raina, with a century against Hong Kong and 84 against Pakistan earlier in the tournament, stroked a magnificent unbeaten 116, adding 139 for the third wicket with Gautam Gambhir to set up the game for India. Gambhir's 90 spanned just 84 balls, and there was enough time for Yuvraj Singh to thrash a couple of mighty sixes before the curtain came down.Shahadat Hossain, all lively pace and whole-hearted grunting, had hinted at an upset with two wickets in the first powerplay, but the partnership between Raina and Gambhir upset Mohammad Ashraful's best-laid plans. Butter fingers didn't help.Gambhir had made 56 when his attempt to muscle Mashrafe Bin Mortaza over the infield was sliced up in the air towards point. Farhad Reza made a mess of the catch. Soon after, still in the final powerplay, Raina experienced his own adrenaline-rush moment, top-edging a pull. But again, Mortaza's celebrations were aborted as Mahmudullah spilt the chance at fine-leg. Raina had made just 16.Bangladesh had started well enough, with Robin Uthappa inside-edging a full delivery onto his stumps. That brought in Rohit Sharma, another batsman whose fortunes have waned in recent times. With Bangladesh especially generous with overthrows, India didn't need to take undue risks, and Rohit soon got going with an imperious pull and a cover drive for fours.

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