June 29, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 24, 1429

KARACHI, June 28: A brilliant maiden century from Alok Kapali inspired Bangladesh to put up a fighting score of 283 for six against formidable Indians at the first Super Four match of the ninth Asia Cup here on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Kapali, who was not in the original squad but came in when Aftab Ahmed dropped out with a broken finger, was single-handedly responsible for taking Bangladesh to their highest total against India as he blasted 115 off just 96 balls in front of an almost empty National Stadium.

Kapali, who was out in the final over (caught at deep square-leg), and all-rounder Mahmudullah (26 not out) created yet another landmark in the Asia Cup history as they joined forces to add 112 for the sixth wicket, usurping the previous best stand of 103 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillekeratne Dilshan against India at Colombo in 2004.

The stylish Kapali, whose scintillating contribution contained 10 fours and five sixes, changed the complexion of the innings completely after Indians had kept Bangladesh in check for the earlier part of the innings. The final 10-over segment yielded as many as 97 runs.

Kapali’s dazzling display indeed gave Bangladesh some hope of an improbable victory since India are without Virender Sehwag, spinner Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar, all three rested from Saturday’s game.

Earlier, the 19-year-old left-handed opening batsman Tamim Iqbal shone in the powerplay overs as he slammed seven boundaries in making an enterprising 55 off 67 deliveries.

However, he needed luck to prosper because early on he was reprieved by square-leg fieldsman Gautam Gambhir who failed to catch a flick off his bat when he was just 11. Manpreet Gony, playing only in his international, was the unlucky bowler.

Capitalising on this unexpected opportunity, Tamim, in his 36th One-day International appearance, became the 11th Bangladeshi to reach the magical 1,000-run mark when he reached 23.

Tamim went in the 20th over to a brilliant wicket-keeper’s catch down the leg side by a diving Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to give Gony his maiden wicket in international cricket.

Tamim along with skipper Mohammad Ashraful (20) added 45 after Nazimuddin failed to enter double figures for the third consecutive match as he cut a climbing delivery from R.P. Singh straight to third man where Ojha made no mistake.

It was an impressive debut for Ojha who captured two wickets and took three catches.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal c Dhoni b I. Sharma 55

Nazimuddin c Ojha b R.P. Singh 6

Mohammad Ashraful c Ojha b Gony 20

Raqibul Hasan b Ojha 25

Mushfiqur Rahim c Dhoni b Ojha 22

Alok Kapali c Ojha b Gony 115

Mahmudullah not out 26

Farhad Reza not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-9) 14

TOTAL (for six wkts, 50 overs) 283

FALL OF WKTS: 1-19, 2-66, 3-102, 4-120, 5-169, 6-281.

DID NOT BAT: Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain.

BOWLING: R.P. Singh 10-1-65-1 (6w); Gony 8-0-65-2 (2w); I. Sharma 10-0-48-1; Ojha 10-0-43-2; Pathan 10-0-44-0 (1w); Yuvraj Singh 2-0-13-0.

INDIA: G. Gambhir, R.V. Uthappa, S.K. Raina, Yuvraj Singh, R.G. Sharma, M.S. Dhoni, Y.K. Pathan, R.P. Singh, I. Sharma, P.P. Ojha, M. Gony.

UMPIRES: B.G. Jerling (South Africa) and S.J.A. Taufel (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: M.G. Silva (Sri Lanka).

MATCH REFEREE: A.G. Hurst (Australia).