Bench warmers in hot seat

Young Gautam Gambhir struck his maiden half century as India moved into the final of the TVS Cup triangular series with a four-wicket victor...

Young Gautam Gambhir struck his maiden half century as India moved into the final of the TVS Cup triangular series with a four-wicket victory over hosts Bangladesh here today.

The left-handed Gambhir made amends for his earlier failures with a sparkling 71 which helped India overhaul Bangladesh’s score of 207 with 7.1 overs to spare to record their third consecutive victory in the tournament.

	SCOREBOARD
BANGLADESH: M Ashraful b Agarkar 7; M Hossain c Agarkar b Bangar 30; H Bashar c Kaif b Agarkar 50; J Omar c and b Sarandeep Singh 1; A Kapali c Mongia b Sarandeep Singh 9; A Khan lbw Sehwag 35; K Mashud c Patel b Mishra 12; K Mahmud c Sehwag b Agarkar 23; M Rafique b Salvi 4; T Baisya run out 3; T Aziz not out 15. Extras (b4, lb2, w4, nb8): 18. Total (all out in 49.4 overs): 207 Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-49, 3-53, 4-78, 5-124, 6-139,7-163, 8-182, 9-182. Bowling: Salvi 10-0-50-1, Agarkar 10-2-36-3, Bangar 8.4-0-32-1, Sarandeep Singh 10-0-34-2, Mishra 9-1-38-1, Sehwag 2-0-11-1. INDIA: V Sehwag c Aziz b Rafique 43; G Gambhir c Mashud b Kapali 71; P Patel lbw Kapali 27; M Kaif run out 20; S Bangar lbw Rafique 7; A Kale c Mahmud b Ashraful 10; D Mongia not out 16; A Agarkar not out 4. Extras (lb-1, w-7, nb-2) 10; Total (For 6 wkts in 42.5 overs) 208 Fall of wickets: 1-69, 2-117, 3-164, 4-178, 5-178, 6-204. Bowling: Baisya 8-0-42-0, Aziz 4-0-31-0, Rafique 10-0-42-2, Mahmud 7-0-22-0, Kapali 8-0-41-2, Ashraful 3.5-0-19-1, Mehrab Hossain 2-0-10-0. Story continues below this ad

The Indians gave a chance to all the newcomers in the squad today but still proved too strong for the struggling hosts whose winless streak extended to 35 matches with today’s defeat.

Gambhir, who had scores of 11 and 18 in the two previous matches, justified the faith reposed on him by the team management to anchor the Indian run chase after stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag had provided a flying start.

The Indians made life a little difficult for themselves by losing three wickets in quick succession at the home stretch with Gambhir, Mohammad Kaif (20) and Sanjay Bangar (7) returning to the pavillion. But Dinesh Mongia, who remained unbeaten on 16, anchored the side past the target.

Earlier, the Bangladesh batsmen put up a much improved performance and, thanks to a fine half-century by Habibul Bashar, crossed the 200-run mark for the first time in 18 innings. Veteran Akram Khan (35) and Mehrab Hossain (30) also made important contributions.

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The Bangladeshi innings began on a disastrous note with Mohammad Ashraful, the top scorer in the last match against South Africa, returning to the pavilion with the score on 15.

Bashar and Mehrab Hossain made an effort to consolidate the position for the team but Sanjay Bangar broke the partnership with his very first ball, geting rid of Hossain for 30 which came off 35 balls. The dismissal of Hossain triggered off a middle-order collapse as two more wickets fell in quick succession to reduce the home team to 78 for four within the 21st over. Bashar and Akram Khan put on 46 runs for the fifth wicket — the highest of the innings — in a rebuilding exercise as they kept the scoreboard moving without taking too many risks. Bashar attacked the loose balls and played some glorious shots, particularly againstAmit Mishra. Bashar pushed Mishra for a single to notch up his half century but perished soon after to bring an end to the profitable partnership. (PTI)