India beat Bangladesh by 199 runs

DHAKA: Middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh’s maiden century, backed by lethal bowling, helped India crush Bangladesh by 199 runs in the opening match of a tri-nation limited-over cricket tournament in Dhaka yesterday.

Bangladesh crashed to 77 runs in reply to India’s 276. It was Bangladesh’s 33rd consecutive defeat in One-Day Internationals. The team narrowly passed their lowest score of 76, against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2002. Even many Bangladeshi fans at Bangabandhu National Stadium cheered Singh’s brilliant unbeaten knock of 102 from 85 balls. He reached the landmark after striking a boundary off Khaled Mahmud, the Bangladesh captain, in the last over of the match.

Singh’s knock included some elegant shots, including four sixes and nine boundaries. He went on playing impressive shots in spite of wickets falling around him and was named “Man-of-the-Match.” With a tough target of 277 runs to win, Bangladesh lost five top-order batsmen at 38 within the first 15 overs. India’s pacer Avishkar Salvi marked his debut by claiming the wicket of opener Mohammad Ashraful in his first over.

Ashraful’s departure on five started a Bangladesh slide with four other top-order batsmen following him to the dressing room too early, disappointing the home crowd of nearly 20,000. Salvi, who finished with two wickets for 16 runs off seven overs, was brilliantly backed by fast bowlers Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan. Khan had a haul of four wickets for 19 runs, and Agarkar finished with three wickets. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh contributed with one wicket.