11 January,2010 03:50 PM IST | | A Correspondent
Halfway into their batting stint against India, Bangladesh were progressing towards their fourth defeat in as many outings.
In the last league game of the tri-series, India, having put Bangladesh in to bat, reduced the hosts to 96 for five in 25 overs. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan (25 not out) was joined by Mahmudullah (0 not out) after the top order surrendered meekly.
Since India had already fixed the line-up for Wednesday's final with a victory against Sri Lanka on Sunday, the Men in Blue opted to rest Zaheer Khan, Sunday's wrecker-in-chief.
Despite Zaheer's absence, Bangladesh were off to a disastrous start as Imrul Kayes (9) got out to rookie Sudeep Tyagi off the first ball of the third over. And in the next over, S Sreesanth cleaned up Mohammad Ashraful (4) to leave Bangladesh reeling at 15 for two.
Though Tamim Iqbal (17) held up one end for a while, he never looked comfortable in the middle and eventually offered Tyagi a simple catch off Ashish Nera, who replaced Zaheer in the starting line-up. u00a0
Raqibul Hasan (28) looked the best batsman on the day for Bangladesh but was unfortunate to be run out in a bizarre manner by Yuvraj Singh. A Shakib drive ricocheted off bowler Yuvraj's palms on to the stumps at the non-striker's end and Raqibul, backing up at the other end, didn't have enough time to get back into the crease.
