Zaheer takes INDIA home in Style

Zaheer Khan sparked a sensational Bangladeshi collapse with four wickets off eight balls as India swept the series with a crushing 10 wicket win in final test at Mirpur.

The left-arm seamer bagged a career-best 7-87 as Bangladesh were bowled out for 312 in their second innings in the opening over after lunch on the penultimate day, leaving the visitors needing two runs to wrap up the series.

The hosts had conceded a 311-run lead after India scored 544-8 declared in their first innings in reply to their opponents' 233.

India, who won the opening Test by 113 runs in Chittagong last week, completed the formality when Bangladesh conceded two byes in the opening over bowled by left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan.

Zaheer finished the match with 10-149 to become only the fourth Indian paceman to take 10 or more wickets in an away Test. He was named both Man of the Match and Man of the Series.

"Zaheer's spell was remarkable as I felt it was a fantastic wicket to bat on," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"It was a difficult task to get 10 wickets in the second innings as there was nothing in the pitch to help either fast bowlers or spinners."


Bangladesh were well placed at 290/3 before losing seven wickets in the space of 22 runs in a dramatic collapse, with Zaheer taking four, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha two and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh one.

Zaheer struck in the morning session's penultimate over, dismissing Raqibul Hasan (five), Mohammad Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam to complete his ninth haul of five or more wickets in a Test innings.

Raqibul was bowled shouldering arms, Mahmudullah was brilliantly caught by Murali Vijay in the slips and Shafiul was bowled by a delivery that cut in sharply.

Zaheer ended the innings when he bowled last-man Rubel Hossain for no score with his third delivery after the lunch interval.

"This particular spell is a confidence-booster for me," said Zaheer.

"It was tough for the bowlers as the pitch kept getting slow and low, but once it started to reverse-swing there was something in it for the bowlers."

There was no hint of collapse in the opening hour as Shahadat Hossain (40) and former captain Mohammad Ashraful (25) took their team's overnight total of 228/3 to 290 with their defiant knocks.

Harbhajan broke the 68-run partnership when he had nightwatchman Shahadat caught by substitute Amit Mishra at long-on. The Bangladeshi batsman hit one six and four boundaries in his 74-ball knock.

"We didn't bat well for two hours in the match that's why we lost, first hour in the first innings on the opening day and an hour before lunch today," said Shakib.

"Every time someone is getting runs, but we need two or three guys to score in each innings and that's something that we need to improve."
Ojha put pressure on the hosts when he had Ashraful caught behind and then had skipper Shakib Al Hasan (seven) caught by Gautam Gambhir at square-leg in successive overs.

India, the top-ranked Test side in the International Cricket Council rankings, will now clash with number two South Africa in a two-match series at home starting on February 6.

Tamim Iqbal's ton kept Bangladesh hopes On

Tamim Iqbal's blistering 151 exposed India's bowling frailties as Bangladesh batted out of their skin to put up some resistance in the second and final Test on Tuesday.

Left-handed opener Tamim (151) blasted the fastest century by a Bangladeshi player and starred in a record 200-run partnership with Junaid Siddique (55) as the hosts finished day three at a fighting 228 for three.

Mohammad Ashraful (2) and Shahadat (2) were in the middle at stumps with the hosts still trailing by 83 runs behind India, who had declared their first essay at 544 for eight.

Even if his team had their back against the wall, Tamim played positive cricket and took the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck.

The opener needed 101 balls to hammer the fastest Test century by a Bangladesh batsman -- eclipsing teammate Mushfiqur Rahim's 112-ball effort in the previous Test in Chittagong.

He and Junaid then went on to add 200 runs for the second wicket -- highest by a Bangla pair for any wicket and against any opposition -- to lead the home side's resistance.

Zaheer Khan (3/63), who had removed Imrul Kayes (5) in the morning to draw first blood, dismissed both Junaid and Tamim in his successive overs towards the end.

Tamim's attacking 183-ball had 18 fours and three sweetly-timed sixes in it while Junaid hit five fours during his patient 144-ball stay.

Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (89) became the fifth Indian batsman to score 50-plus in the innings as India declared their first essay at 544 for eight.

Yuvraj Singh, nursing a wrist injury, did not bat and has been ruled out of the match.

It was, however, the double century stand between Tamim and Junaid which was the highlight of the third day's play. Their association bettered the 191-run stand between Habibur Bashar and Mushfiqur Rahim for the sixth wicket against Sri Lanka in July 2007.

After India's 52 overs of toiling without success, Zaheer broke the stand when he removed Junaid caught behind four overs before close of play.

Nine balls later and in the penultimate over of the day, Tamim edged a Zaheer delivery to Dhoni to perish in the same manner.

After India had declared their innings at lunch, it looked like the match was heading towards an early finish but the home side had other ideas and Tamim decided to counter-attack.

The left-hander took 15 runs from the second over after tea, sent down by Pragyan Ojha, with a six and two fours and raced to his second Test hundred with a four off Zaheer with the 2,000-odd crowd roaring at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Tamim played some delightful shots, including two consecutive straight driven fours off Zaheer. He later hoisted off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for a four and a six to get past his earlier highest Test score of 128.

Tamim was dropped on 138 off Virender Sehwag with Sachin Tendulkar making a fine attempt running from mid-wicket but failing to hold on to a difficult catch.

Tendulkar tumbled down and remained on the ground for a while holding on his right shoulder and later walked off the field.

Earlier, Dhoni struck 89 to take India to 544 for eight at lunch before declaring the innings as neither Yuvraj nor Rahul Dravid -- who retired hurt on Monday with a broken jaw -- was in any condition to take further part in the match.

Dhoni had to shepherd the tailenders and he did it admirably well for the whole of the morning session which saw 30.1 overs being bowled. India added just 85 runs in the session, as Dhoni shunned singles and scored mostly in boundaries or twos to shield the tailenders.

Dhoni was out at the stroke of scheduled lunch time. He faced 167 balls and hit nine fours and two sixes in his 89-run knock, his 17th Test half century in his 41st match.


He shared a crucial 51-run stand for the seventh wicket with Ishant Sharma (13) to take Indian score past 500. For India, all the specialist batsmen -- barring Murali Vijay (30) -- made 50-plus knocks.
Banbladesh 2nd Innings

Batsman Bangladesh(228/3 in 60 ovs) Runs Balls 4's 6's SR T Iqbal c M Dhoni & b Z Khan 151 183 18 3 82.51 I Kayes c (sub)D Karthik & b Z Khan 5 15 1 0 33.33 J Siddique c M Dhoni & b Z Khan 55 144 5 0 38.19 S Hossain Not out 2 13 0 0 15.38 M Ashraful Not out 2 5 0 0 40 R Hasan dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 S Al Hasan(c) dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 M Rahim(wk) dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 Mahmudullah dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 S Islam dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 R Hossain dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 Extras b - 7, lb - 4, w - 2, nb - 0, Total - 13

Total:(228 for 3 in 60 overs) 228 Run Rate: 3.8

Fall Of Wickets 1/19 (Imrul Kayes, 4.5 ov.), 2/219 (Junaid Siddique, 56.4 ov.), 3/222 (Tamim Iqbal, 58.1 ov.)

Bowler 0 M R W Nb Wd ER Zaheer Khan 14 1 63 3 0 1 4.5 Ishant Sharma 11 2 38 0 0 0 3.45 Harbhajan Singh 17 3 59 0 0 0 3.47 Pragyan Ojha 11 1 46 0 0 0 4.18 Virender Sehwag 7 2 11 0 0 1 1.57 India 1st Innings Go to Top Batsman India(544/8 in 133 ovs) Runs Balls 4's 6's SR G Gambhir c M Rahim & b S Islam 68 83 9 0 81.93 V Sehwag c M Rahim & b S Hossain 56 63 8 0 88.89 R Dravid retired hurt 111 188 12 0 59.04 S Tendulkar c I Kayes & b S Hasan 143 182 13 1 78.57 M Vijay c Mahmudullah & b S Hasan 30 49 3 0 61.22 MS Dhoni(c) st M Rahim & b R Hasan 89 167 9 2 53.29 H Singh c M Rahim & b S Islam 13 23 2 0 56.52 Z Khan c S Hossain & b S Islam 0 10 0 0 0 I Sharma c M Rahim & b M Ashraful 13 32 3 0 40.63 P Ojha Not out 1 11 0 0 9.09 Y Singh dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 Extras b - 3, lb - 6, w - 1, nb - 10, Total - 20

Total:(544 for 8 in 133 overs) 544 Run Rate: 4.09

Fall Of Wickets 1/103 (Virender Sehwag, 19.6 ov.), 2/146 (Gautam Gambhir, 29.5 ov.), 3/421 (Sachin Tendulkar, 91.4 ov.), 4/436 (Murali Vijay, 95.5 ov.), 5/459 (Harbhajan Singh, 102.5 ov.), 6/467 (Zaheer Khan, 106.2 ov.), 7/518 (Ishant Sharma, 123.6 ov.), 8/544 (MS Dhoni, 132.6 ov.)

Bowler 0 M R W Nb Wd ER Shafiul Islam 23 1 86 3 0 1 3.74 Shahadat Hossain 22 2 91 1 2 0 4.14 Rubel Hossain 28 1 115 0 8 0 4.11 Shakib Al Hasan(c) 34 3 118 2 0 0 3.47 Mohammad Ashraful 9 0 38 1 0 0 4.22 Mahmudullah 15 0 78 0 0 0 5.2 Junaid Siddique 1 0 9 0 0 0 9 Raqibul Hasan 1 1 0 1 0 0 0

India in Control

 An impressive unbeaten 96 from Mahmudullah rescued the Bangladesh innings from utter ignominy, but the starts squandered by other batsmen were threatening to haunt them by day's end, as India knocked off 69 runs from just 13 overs, with Virender Sehwag cruising to 41 not out. With the conditions likely to be most batsmen-friendly on the second day, Bangladesh were left to reflect on an opportunity squandered after winning the toss. Both Mohammad Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan got out to appalling strokes, and it was left to Mahmudullah to lead Bangladesh to 233 all out, a significant improvement on the 51 for 5 that the scoreboard showed when Ashraful had his brain fade.

The last two wickets added 78, with Shafiul Islam defying India for 39 balls and Rubel Hossain keeping out 25 before Harbhajan Singh sneaked one through his defence to leave Mahmudullah stranded. He had struck two fours in a Harbhajan over to get within touching distance, but after nearly 30 overs of batting with No.10 and Jack, his luck ran out. As he walked off though, several Indian fielders ran up to shake his hand. It had been that kind of innings.

He had marked his guard after Mushfiqur Rahim, centurion in Chittagong, had been trapped on the crease by Ishant Sharma. He eased nerves with a neat glance for four off Zaheer Khan and then continued to go for his shots once Shakib had chased a wide one from Zaheer into the hands of MS Dhoni. Zaheer was then pulled and upper-cut for four and after Shahadat Hossain went, stumped off the bowling of Pragyan Ojha, he swept and reverse-swept Harbhajan to keep the Indians on their toes.

A cover-drive that Ojha couldn't stop at the boundary took him to his half-century from 71 balls, and he continued to sweep and cut as Shafiul offered stout resistance at one end. It was all a far cry from the morning, when one batsman after another appeared to be in a hurry to get back to the comforts of the pavilion.

They were not helped by the first decision going against them either. Ishant's first ball, the seventh of the innings, was heading down the leg side when it deflected off something on its way to Dhoni's gloves. The Indians went up in appeal, and so did Billy Bowden's crooked finger, though replays subsequently showed that the ball had brushed Imrul Kayes' thigh pad.

Tamim Iqbal had walked the talk on the eve of the game, but the only walking he did was on his way back, bowled off the pad after a statuesque waft against a Zaheer delivery that nipped back. Soon after, Junaid Siddique, who had replaced Shahriar Nafees at No.3, followed him, gloving a pull down the leg side for Dhoni to take. Troubled by the short ball, his attempt to hit his way out of trouble came to naught.

Ashraful was having a go at everything pitched up to him, and while there were a couple of fortuitous inside edges, he also played superb strokes off his pads and through cover. But the innings still lacked any hint of stability, with Raqibul Hasan's vigil ended by a thick edge off Ishant that Rahul Dravid took easily at second slip. Pushed back by a succession of short balls, Raqibul couldn't resist the one pitched up.

Ojha came on in the 13th over and Ashraful announced his intentions with a flail through the covers. This though is a batsman who shows no sign of maturity even after eight years as a Test cricketer, and a headless-chicken charge off the next delivery presented Dhoni with the simplest of stumpings. He had made 39 from just 31 balls.

Mushfiqur carried on where he left off in Chittagong with some pleasing drives and cuts either side of lunch, and Shakib followed suit, but it was left to Mahmudullah to surpass the 69 he made in Chittagong and bring something substantial to the proceedings.

Sehwag came out in typically forthright fashion, cutting, driving and working the ball off his toes as the runs accumulated at a fair clip. And after a sedate start, Gambhir joined in with some attacking strokes as the most prolific opening pair in world cricket set about showing Bangladesh's top order just how to build a Test innings.

Batsman Bangladesh(233/10 in 73.5 ovs) Runs Balls 4's 6's SR T Iqbal b Z Khan 0 8 0 0 0 I Kayes c M Dhoni & b I Sharma 0 1 0 0 0 J Siddique c M Dhoni & b Z Khan 7 13 0 0 53.85 M Ashraful st M Dhoni & b P Ojha 39 31 6 0 125.81 R Hasan c R Dravid & b I Sharma 4 23 0 0 17.39 S Al Hasan(c) c M Dhoni & b Z Khan 34 67 4 0 50.75 M Rahim(wk) lbw I Sharma 30 61 6 0 49.18 Mahmudullah Not out 96 156 13 0 61.54 S Hossain st M Dhoni & b P Ojha 8 18 1 0 44.44 S Islam c R Dravid & b I Sharma 9 39 1 0 23.08 R Hossain b H Singh 4 26 0 0 15.38 Extras b - 0, lb - 2, w - 0, nb - 0, Total - 2

Total:(233 for 10 in 73.5 overs)   233 Run Rate: 3.16

Fall Of Wickets 1/0 (Imrul Kayes, 1.1 ov.), 2/4 (Tamim Iqbal, 2.3 ov.), 3/13 (Junaid Siddique, 4.2 ov.), 4/44 (Raqibul Hasan, 11.6 ov.), 5/51 (Mohammad Ashraful, 12.4 ov.), 6/106 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 31.5 ov.), 7/127 (Shakib Al Hasan, 35.4 ov.), 8/155 (Shahadat Hossain, 43.6 ov.), 9/213 (Shafiul Islam, 63.5 ov.), 10/233 (Rubel Hossain, 73.5 ov.)

Bowler 0 M R W Nb Wd ER Zaheer Khan 19 3 62 3 0 0 3.26 Ishant Sharma 18 3 66 4 0 0 3.67 Pragyan Ojha 16 1 49 2 0 0 3.06 Harbhajan Singh 18.5 3 48 1 0 0 2.55 Yuvraj Singh 2 0 6 0 0 0 3

Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZ) & Marais Erasmus (SA)

Third Umpire: Sharafudoulla Shahid (Ban)

Match Referee: Andrew Pycroft (Zim)