India to meet Pak in final!

In a no-contest match played last evening, India beat Bangladesh. Now the way has been cleared for an exciting final to be played between India and Pakistan. As the Bangladesh side was struggling for form just 15,000 turn up at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium for the India-Bangladesh match on Thursday. After bowling the hosts out for 222, India thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets with 14.5 overs to spare.

It was a day of Gambhir. Gambhir with Sehwag laid a solid base for Indian team and the target of 223 looked small. By the time Gambhir reached his century, most of the unhappy crowd had left. Gambhir made graceful 107 not out off 101 balls, that included 13 fours and one six. His compelling footwork, timing and balance were the highlights of an unbeaten hundred in the last league match of the Kitply tri-series.

Both Sehwag and Gambhir proved once again that they are the best opener duo for India. Sehwag made 59 in 32 balls including seven fours and two sixes. When Dolar Mahmud was introduced, Sehwag greeted him with a flurry of shots. Sehwag canned the medium-pacer by picking him up for 22 runs in his first five deliveries, before throwing away his wicket.

This good performance by both the batsmen gave India a rousing start. Later Rohit Sharma contributed with his significant 26 runs. Yuvraj Singh also added 26 runs before being out at a ball by Reza. With these contributions, the work started by Sehwag and Gambhir was completed elegantly.

Earlier, accurate bowling by Praveen Kumar stopped Bangladesh from scoring freely. While Praveen checked the runs, his partner RP Singh was a little erratic. But Bangladesh, opting to bat, found itself in early trouble at 17 for two.

Praveen got Tamim Iqbal’s early wicket and sent him back at a duck. But wayward and loose bowling from RP Singh benefited the hosts and kept the scoreboard ticking. Then was the turn of S. Nafees, sent back by R.P. Singh at 9 runs. M. Ashraful played some good strokes before succumbing on a ball of Yusuf at 36.

The best performance with bat from Bangladesh was by right-hander Raqibul Hasan. His effort was responsible for Bangladesh posting 200-plus target. He made his career best 89 in 117 balls with the help of 5 fours after both openers fell inside six overs. This was his second half century in his ninth match. The youngster built a fine partnership with captain Ashraful, adding 76 from 118 balls for the third wicket.

Hasan shared another important partnership of 46 in 52 balls with Alok Kapali. Later A. Kapali was bowled by Irfan Pathan at 20. Mahmudullah gave in significant 24 runs before being out on a ball by R.P. Singh. M. Rahim was out on ball by Chawla at 6.
F. Reza was run out at 5. He was followed by another run out of M. Mortaza at 13. A. Razzak went not out at 8. With 12 extras total in 49.5 overs reached moderate 222 and this target was easily achieved by India. Now a lot more real action is expected in the final to be played between the hard core rivals- India and Pakistan!