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Rain respite for India

A heavy downpour saved India the blushes in their match against Bangladesh on the second day of the Asia Cup cricket tournament on Tuesday.

Playing their first match since the outbreak of match-fixing allegations, the Indians got a couple of quick wickets early on, but struggled in the field later on, as Bangladesh, beaten thoroughly by Sri Lanka yesterday in the opening match of the tournament, recovered from 30 for 2, to progress to 98 without further loss in 25.2 overs before rain forced play to be called off.

The heavy downpour flooded the Bangabandhu National stadium, forcing the umpires to abandon play for the day.

Match referee John Reid of New Zealand said, weather permitting, the match will resume on Wednesday from it's current position. If the match is not completed, both teams will get a point each.

India were let down by their bowlers who appeared sluggish, unable to come up with a proper line or length. Bangladeshi batsmen Habibul Basher and skipper Aminul Islam took full advantage of the situation and put together 68 runs in an unbroken partnership for the third wicket. When play was abandoned, Habibul was unbeaten on 45, with three boundaries and a six off left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi, to his credit, and looking good for more, while Islam was on 32.

Thiru Kumaran claimed both the wickets to fall, conceding 22 runs from his six overs. He first clean bowled Javed Omar in his second over and then had the other opener Shahriar Hossain caught in the deep.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly conceded 17 runs in three overs.

Nothing went right for India. The lively wicket caught wicketkeeper Saba Karim by surprise as he failed to read one from leg spinner Anil Kumble properly and was hit on the face by the rising delivery. He was taken to hospital for precautionary x-rays. Vice-captain Rahul Dravid then donned the gloves.

Scoreboard

Bangladesh:
Shahriyar Hossain c Joshi b Kumaran 11
Javed Omar b Kumaran 1
Habibul Basher not out 45
Aminul Islam not out 32
Extras: (lb3, w1, nb5) 9
Total (for two wickets) 98
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-30
Bowling: Agarkar 5-2-9-0, Kumaran 6-0-22-2, Ganguly 3-0-17-0, Kumble 5-0-18-0, Joshi 5-0-22-0, Badani 1-0-6-0, Singh 0.2-0-1-0
Overs: 25.2