First Test ends in draw

What looked like an exciting finish to the first Test between India and Bangladesh at Chittagong today turned to disappointment, then a brief glimmer of hope thanks to a declaration by Rahul Dravid, then ultimately further disappointment as the match ended in a draw.

India were set to resume 193 ahead with 8 wickets in hand, but a wet outfield after overnight rain put paid to the prospect of play in the first session. When India eventually did resume after lunch, some inspired bowling by Mohammad Rafique saw the Indians collapse to 100-6 before Dravid declared, leaving a distantly possible but difficult target of 250 for Bangladesh to gain an unlikely victory after seeing India at one stage 321-3 in the first innings.

But although the Bangladesh batsmen played positively, the required run rate was always beyond them and they finished at 104-2, still almost 150 runs short.

It was a disappointing finish to an interestingly poised Test, the second time that has happened in the last couple of days after a similarly disappointing finish in the England vs West Indies Test at Lord’s. But the way Bangladesh have performed in the last two days will give them some confidence after being soundly beaten in the ODI series and looking to be heading the same way at stumps on the first day.

India 387-8d
Sachin Tendulkar 101, Saurav Ganguly 100
Mashrafe Mortaza 4-91, Shahadat Hossain 3-76

Bangladesh 238 all out
Mashrafe Mortaza 79, Rajin Saleh 41
Rudra Pratap Singh 3-45, Vikram Singh 3-48

India 100-6d
Sachin Tendulkar 31, Dinesh Karthik 22
Mohammad Rafique 3-27, Shahadat Hossain 2-30

Bangladesh 104-2
Javed Omar 52 no, Habibul Bashar 37
Ramesh Powar 1-16, Rudra Pratap Singh 1-29

Match Drawn.

Cricket Web Player of the Match: Mashrafe Mortaza – 4-97, 79, 1-36.