Gambhir Hits Half-Century As India Thump Bangladesh

Gambhir Hits Half-Century As India Thump Bangladesh

Gautam Gambhir (left) hits out during his innings of 82.

©REUTERS/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds (SRI LANKA - Tags: SPORT CRICKET) Picture Supplied by Action Images

Gambhir Hits Half-Century As India Thump Bangladesh

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (right) helped India hurry to victory with an unbeaten 38 in 45 balls

©REUTERS/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds (SRI LANKA SPORT CRICKET) Picture Supplied by Action Images

Gambhir Hits Half-Century As India Thump Bangladesh

Virender Sehwag had earlier mopped up the tail with four for six as Bangladesh were bowled out for 167

©REUTERS/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds (SRI LANKA - Tags: SPORT CRICKET) Picture Supplied by Action Images

India 168-4 (Gambhir 82, Dhoni 38no) beat
Bangladesh 167 (Imrul Kayes 37, Sehwag 4-6, Nehra 2-28) by six wickets
Asia Cup game two, Dambulla
Scorecard

Virender Sehwag took four for six and Gautam Gambhir stroked a half-century as India cruised to a six-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the second game of the 2010 Asia Cup in Dambulla.

Sehwag's career-best effort helped India bowl Bangladesh out for 167 and the match was completed with some 116 balls to spare - which gave India a bonus point to put them on top of the early table.

The 2008 runners-up and four-time winners were put under pressure early on as Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal (22 in 12 balls) and Imrul Kayes (37 in 35) set off at Twenty20 pace to add 35 runs inside three overs before Tamim was caught by Suresh Raina off Praveen Kumar.

Therafter, only three players could reach double figures as Bangladesh failed to make the most of their fine start. Mohammad Ashraful made a patient 20 in 37 balls and Mushfiqur Rahim 30 in 55 balls as they battled hard to keep the innings together but wickets fell too frequently for them to post a competitive score.

Mahmudullah was the other player to make a start, scoring 23 in 41 balls before off-spinner Sehwag, making his first appearance in an Indian shirt since February, had Rahim caught behind by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He then cleaned up the tail by having Suhrawadi Shuvo (4) and Shafiul Islam (0) trapped in front and then bowling Syed Rasel for a duck as he picked up three wickets in five balls to end the innings - his analysis of 2.5-0-6-4 being his best in all one-day cricket

Returning left-arm quick Ashish Nehra returned two for 28, removing Kayes and Ashraful while there was a wicket apiece for Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Ravi Jadeja and Rohit Sharma.

Sehwag was unable to follow up his efforts with the ball with anything similar with the bat as he made just 11 before offering a catch to Rahim off of Mashrafe Mortaza.

India raced to lunch at 58 for one and despite Mortaza eventually dismissing Gambhir and captain Shakib Al Hasan removing Virat Kohli (11) and Sharma (0) in consecutive deliveries, India were never seriously in danger of losing the game.

Left-hander Gambhir, playing his first ODI since January, hit six fours in 101 balls before he was trapped in front and he put on 78 for the fourth wicket with his captain Dhoni, who was unbeaten on 38.

Raina was unbeaten on one when the winning runs came and although Mortaza (2-37) and Shakib (2-49) produced decent figures, they were outclassed by a full-strength Indian team.

India meet big rivals Pakistan in their next match in the competition on Saturday (19th June) while Bangladesh play hosts Sri Lanka on Friday (18th June).

Sri Lanka, who have also won the tournament four times, beat Pakistan by 26 runs in the tournament's opening game.

© Cricket World 2010

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