DHAKA, 17 April 2003 — India booked a berth in the final of the three-nation tournament here with a four-wicket win over Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. It was the third consecutive victory for the World Cup finalists, for whom opener Gautam Gambhir (71) and pace bowler Ajit Agarkar (3-36) stood out with determined efforts.
A target of 208 did not turn out to be as easy as expected in the face of some irresponsible batting by the Indian middle-order batsmen, who threw away their wickets. India won with 7.1 overs to spare, left-hander Gambhir’s 71 off 91 deliveries proving handy.
The 21-year-old came good after failures in his first two matches, which got him just 11 and 18. Gambhir put on 69 for the opening stand with fellow Delhi player Virender Sehwag, who led the side in his 71st one-dayer after captain Saurav Ganguly decided to rest a strained back.
Gambhir, who hit nine fours, was caught behind while trying to cut a delivery from leg-spinner Alok Kapali when he could well have seen the team through the slight slump toward the end.
Sehwag chipped in with 43 off 48 balls before being the first man out, holing out to long-off. No other notable contribution from the remaining batsmen meant the match became closer than expected.
“It was a bad effort toward the end as we lost unnecessary wickets. We tried to finish the match early when we could have batted steadily to get them,” said Sehwag.
Earlier, Bangladesh failed to make use of the good batting conditions after electing to bat. Habibul Bashar was the only one to bat with purpose for a half-century. Bashar, who did not play the first match against India, hit a cautious 50 off 93 balls.
Former captain Akram Khan (35) and opener Mehrab Hossain (30) were the others to chip in for the hosts. Agarkar led the Indian attack, his three scalps including the important wickets of opener Mohammad Ashraful and Bashar, while off-spinner Sarandeep Singh bowled well in the mid overs to take two wickets.
Bangladesh fell to their third consecutive loss and have a match remaining against South Africa today. India and South Africa will clash tomorrow in the last league match. The final of the tournament, being played on a double-league format, will be held on Sunday.
India are expected to continue experimenting with their combination as they did yesterday, capping batsman Abhijit Kale and also bringing in Sarandeep, all-rounder Sanjay Bangar and paceman Aavishkar Salvi.
Zaheer Khan (pulled hamstring) joined Ganguly on the injury list while Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were rested. Bangladesh made one change, bringing in Mehrab Hossain for Sanwar Hossain.
I Would Have Refused
Captaincy, Says Boucher
In Dhaka, South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher yesterday said he would have refused captaincy of their national cricket team had he been offered the job.
“I would have said no to it (captaincy),” said Boucher. “I was not prepared for that extra responsibility and would much rather concentrate on my role behind the stumps.”
Boucher was vice-captain of the South African side that failed to go beyond the first round of this year’s World Cup, but Graeme Smith replaced Shaun Pollock when the selectors decided for a change in captaincy.
South Africa have not named a deputy for Smith according to a new policy.
Australia to Host Zimbabwe
in Test Series
Australia will host Zimbabwe for the first time in a Test series later this year as part of their build up to a four-match series with India, the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) announced yesterday.
The historic two-match series with Zimbabwe will be played in October with the first Test in Perth from Oct. 9 to 13 and the second in Sydney from Oct. 17 to 21.
The Africans will also join Australia and India in a one-day series in the first two months of 2004 after those teams have played two Tests.
