Bangladesh vs India - Second Test Match
December 17-21, 2004Toss: India won the toss and decided to bat
Chittagong Stadium
Umpires: M R Benson, Aleem Dar
Result: India 540 beat Bangladesh 333 & 124 by an Innings and 83 runs
Second Test First day
December 17, 2004
India, leading the two-Test series 1-0, won the toss at Chittagong's MA Aziz Stadium and elected to bat first. Virender Sehwag struck teenage paceman Nazmul Hossain's first ball on his debut to the cover fence. But before he was settled, the dashing opener then chased a wide one from Mashrafe Mortaza, Habibul Bashar taking the catch in the slips. Bangladesh's promising start, with India 14-1 in the fifth over, proved to be a red herring as Gambhir and Dravid booked in for lengthy stays at the crease.
Left-handed opener Gambhir (139) cracked his maiden Test hundred while vice-captain Dravid his 18th to become the first batsman ever to score centuries in all ten Test playing countries as India reached 334 for two at close on the first day. Dravid was unbeaten on 145 with Tendulkar 36 not out at the other end at close on the opening day but it was Gambhir's rollicking innings that put the team on a roll after Sourav Ganguly elected to bat on a pitch that shone like marble in the morning sun.
While the Indians made merry with their top order batsmen feasting on the easy-paced track at the M A Aziz Stadium, it turned out to be a day of hard toil for the hosts. Dravid's century also meant that he surpassed Dilip Vengsarkar (17 centuries) to perch himself on the fourth place in the list of most century makers for India. Sachin Tendulkar , Sunil Gavaskar (both 34) and Mohammad Azharuddin (22) top the charts.
Bangladesh had made three changes from the side which lost the first Test in Dhaka by an innings and 140 runs with almost two days to spare. Batsman Rajin Saleh, all rounder Mushfiqur Rahman and seamer Tapash Baisya were replaced by Aftab Ahmed, Talha Jubair and Hossain. India retained the same 11. In Picture: Left-handed opener Gambhir (139) cracked his maiden Test hundred
Second Test Second day
December 18, 2004
Bangladesh look poised for yet another collapse against India in the first innings of the second Test at the M A Aziz stadium in Chittagong on Saturday. After starting relatively well, from a respectable position of 48 for no loss, Bangladesh were staring defeat in the face on 54 for three when stumps were drawn. Bangladesh had lost three wickets in six runs, undermining the efforts of the first 26 overs.
It were the Indian spinners--Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh--who made the early strikes this time. The pitch had started cracking on the third day. The Bangladesh spinners had a successful outing in the first two sessions but it was only an indicator of what their illustrious counterparts in the Indian team would achieve.
Earlier in the morning, Bangladesh got off to a perfect start as they sent Sachin Tendulkar packing on the first ball of the day. Mashrafe Mortaza was at it again, right on line from the very first ball, trapping Tendulkar in front of the stumps. Chasing a record 35th Test century, Tendulkar tried to turn a ball pitched on the off stump to the leg-side without any real foot movement. The ball rapped him on the knees. (334 for 3). Dravid followed soon with 160 (371 for 4). Later Ganguly (88) and Harbhjan (47) added 75 runs in 11.3 overs at a run rate of 6.5. India were all out for 540 runs in the first innings. In Picture: Kumble who took two wickets in the evening to reduce Bangladesh to 54/3
Second Test Third day
December 19, 2004
Mohammad Ashraful hammered a blistering century, but Bangladesh still faced an innings defeat on the third day of the second and final Test against India. The diminutive middle-order batsman, 20, flayed the Indian attack as he smashed three sixes and 24 fours to score 158 not out, the highest by a Bangladeshi batsman in Test cricket.
But Bangladesh failed to avoid a follow-on despite Ashraful's second hundred in 23 Tests as they were all out for 333 in their first innings in reply to India's mammoth total of 540.
India restored their bowling pride when they reduced Bangladesh to a paltry 118-9 in the second innings at stumps. The hosts still needed 89 more runs with just one wicket in hand to make India bat again.
Left-arm fast bowler Irfan Pathan (5-32) overcame his mediocre first-innings performance with his third five-wicket haul to virtually ensure an Indian sweep of the two-match series. In Picture: Ashraful, who became the youngest-ever batsman to score a Test century on debut in 2001 against Sri Lanka at 16 years, surpassed Aminul Islam's Bangladeshi record of 145 scored in the country's inaugural Test against India in 2000.
Second Test Fourth day
December 20, 2004
India sealed an innings and 83-run victory against Bangladesh to sweep the two-Test series. When play started, At the crease were overnight batsmen Talha Jubair and Nazmul Hossain. Jubair was on 25 and Hossain was on eight. The Turbanator packing off Talha Jubair for 31.
Except for a facile six hit by Talha Jubair at the start of the match, the hosts were not really looking like they were aiming to prolong the match.
Bangladesh were all out at 124.
Man of the Match was Mohd Ashraful and Man of the series was Irfan Pathan. In Picture: Irfan Pathan, who had two five wicket hauls, was awarded the Man of the Series award.
India vs Bangladesh 2nd Test Match Scoreboard
December 17-21, 2004
In Picture: First test, First innings; Ashraful sweeps off Anil Kumble.
Top scorer Young Mohammad Ashraful cored with a fritty unbeaten 60 while Mohammad Rafique also contributed a useful 47 on a day which saw Anil Kumble create a new Indian wicket taking record. In the second test on the third day, he blazed his way to 158* in the morning, but was lbw'd for 3 in the evening in the second innings. At the start of this test Bangladesh has an Average 1st Innings Score of 208 with an Average 1st Innings Deficit of 200. Their Highest Total was 416 all out against West Indies, 1st Test, Castries (St. Lucia), May 2004
The Lowest Total recorded was 87, also against WI, 1st Test Match, Dhaka (Bangabandhu Stadium), Dec 2002
Best Batting performance was 145 by Aminul Islam against India, 1st Test, Dhaka (Bangabandhu Stadium), Nov 2000. It was also the Best Debutant Batting by a bangladesh player
India First Innings
|
Batsman |
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s | ||
| V Sehwag | c Habibul Bashar | b Mashrafe Mortaza |
10 |
16 | 2 | 0 |
| G Gambhir | b Nazmul Hossain |
139 |
196 | 19 | 0 | |
| R Dravid | c Khaled Mashud | b Mashrafe Mortaza |
160 |
304 | 24 | 0 |
| S R Tendulkar | lbw | b Mashrafe Mortaza |
36 |
55 | 6 | 0 |
| S C Ganguly | c Talha Jubair | b Mohammad Rafique |
88 |
153 | 9 | 0 |
| V V S Laxman | c and b | Mohammad Rafique |
9 |
14 | 2 | 0 |
| K K D Karthik | c Khaled Mashud | b Mohammad Rafique |
11 |
24 | 1 | 0 |
| I K Pathan | c Khaled Mashud | b Mohammad Rafique |
4 |
14 | 0 | 0 |
| A Kumble | st Khaled Mashud | b Mohammad Ashraful |
23 |
73 | 3 | 0 |
| Harbhajan Singh | c Manjural Islam Rana | b Nazmul Hossain |
47 |
43 | 7 | 2 |
| Z Khan | not out |
|
0 |
3 | 0 | 0 |
| Extras |
|
2nb 2w 5b 4lb | 13 |
| ||
| Total | all out | 540 | ||||
|
|
Live Cricket
|
Batsman |
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s | ||
| Nafis Iqbal | c G Gambhir | b Harbhajan Singh |
31 |
91 | 5 | 0 |
| Javed Omar | c R Dravid | b A Kumble |
10 |
76 | 1 | 0 |
| Mashrafe Mortaza | lbw | b A Kumble |
4 |
15 | 1 | 0 |
| Habibul Bashar | st K K D Karthik | b A Kumble |
22 |
42 | 3 | 0 |
| Mohammad Ashraful | not out |
|
158 |
194 | 24 | 3 |
| Aftab Ahmed | lbw | b A Kumble |
43 |
72 | 5 | 1 |
| Manjural Islam Rana | lbw | b Z Khan |
0 |
3 | 0 | 0 |
| Khaled Mashud | c K K D Karthik | b Z Khan |
22 |
44 | 3 | 0 |
| Mohammad Rafique | c R Dravid | b I K Pathan |
4 |
16 | 1 | 0 |
| Talha Jubair | b I K Pathan |
0 |
1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nazmul Hossain | run out |
0 |
1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras |
|
11nb 3w 17b 8lb | 39 |
| ||
| Total | all out | 333 | ||||
|
|
Live Cricket
Bangladesh Second Innings
|
Batsman |
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s | ||
| Nafis Iqbal | lbw | b I K Pathan |
0 |
1 | 0 | 0 |
| Javed Omar | c K K D Karthik | b I K Pathan |
6 |
20 | 1 | 0 |
| Habibul Bashar | lbw | b I K Pathan |
17 |
45 | 2 | 0 |
| Aftab Ahmed | c K K D Karthik | b I K Pathan |
4 |
3 | 1 | 0 |
| Mohammad Rafique | c V Sehwag | b I K Pathan |
22 |
21 | 4 | 0 |
| Mohammad Ashraful | lbw | b A Kumble |
3 |
13 | 0 | 0 |
| Manjural Islam Rana | c G Gambhir | b A Kumble |
0 |
10 | 0 | 0 |
| Khaled Mashud | c R Dravid | b Harbhajan Singh |
0 |
9 | 0 | 0 |
| Mashrafe Mortaza | c Harbhajan Singh | b S R Tendulkar |
6 |
9 | 1 | 0 |
| Nazmul Hossain | not out |
|
8 |
8 | 2 | 0 |
| Talha Jubair | c I K Pathan | b Harbhajan Singh |
31 |
24 | 5 | 1 |
| Extras |
|
4nb 7w 9b 7lb | 27 |
| ||
| Total | all out | 124 | ||||
|
|
Live Cricket
Result: India 540 beat Bangladesh 333 & 124 by an Innings and 83 runs
Indian Team
December 9, 2004
Saurav Ganguly (c), Virender Sehwag , Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar , VVS Laxman, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan.
In Picture: Sachin Tendulkar practicing at the MA Aziz Stadium at Chittagong.
Bangladesh Team
December 9, 2004
Habibul Bashar (c), Khaled Mashud, Nafis Iqbal, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza, Talha Jubair, Manjural Islam Rana, Nazmul Hossain.
In Picture: Mohammad Ashraful practicing at the MA Aziz Stadium at Chittagong.
The Venue
December 10, 2004
MA Aziz Stadium (also known as Chittagong Stadium). First-class cricket started way back in December 1954 when touring Indians played against East Pakistan. Two seasons later MCC also played a match there. Thereafter it was only in October 1999 that a cricket match of significance was played on this ground, though football matches have been played regularly here.
In all a total of 6 Tests have been played here and Bangladesh have suffered defeat in all of them. With the exception of the first Test (Bangladesh v Zimbabwe in November 2001) all Tests on this ground have been completed within four days.