Mortaza's bat frustrates India

CHITTAGONG, May 21: His catch may not win Bangladesh the first Test here, but Rajin Saleh's magnificent diving effort at short mid-wicket to remove Rahul Dravid in the second innings will certainly find a place in the classic catches hall of fame.
India's poor batting display at the Bir Sreshtha Ruhul Amin Stadium on Monday kind of mirrored the ineptitude of the hosts, whose first innings lasted just 68.2 overs.They would have been bowled out for far fewer than 238 but for a braveheart called Mashrafe bin Mortaza.
Scorecard
He may not quite have the controlled swing of Kapil Dev, but Mortaza does remind you of the Haryana Hurricane because he not only plays cricket with his heart but also enjoys every moment of it.
On a placid pitch when his more illustrious colleagues threw away their chances, Mortaza put a premium on his wicket and added 77 vital runs for the ninth wicket with his pace partner Shahadat Hossain to not only save the follow-on, but also give some respectability to the Bangladesh innings.
After conceding a first-innings lead of 149 runs, Bangladesh hit back with two quick wickets to inject some excitement into the final session. Indians, who ended the day on 44 for two, enjoy an overall lead of 193 with eight wickets standing.
With just a day's play remaining, an Indian win looks to be a distant dream. It was an eventful fourth day's play during the course of which 14 wickets tumbled and only 285 runs were scored.
Dravid, who wanted Mahendra Singh Dhoni to have a go at the Bangladeshi bowlers, had to revise his plans quickly as India lost two wickets in two overs, including that of the Jharkhandi wicketkeeper. Dravid declared only after 11 balls and the addition of just three runs to the overnight score of 384 for six.
Bangladesh's reply was totally out of character and must have surprised Team India. In Kumble's absence, the Indian attack looked wafer thin, but instead of putting the likes of RP Singh, VRV Singh and Ramesh Powar under pressure, the Bangla batsmen found new ways to get out. Their merry procession continued till Mortaza and Hossain got their defiant act together.
Zaheer Khan, on whom rested much of India's hopes, bowled a rather ordinary opening spell. RP Singh, who shared the new ball, bowled a much fuller length and was rewarded for his efforts with two wickets in his third over.
First he trapped opener Javed Omar lbw with the one that came into the right-hander and then angled one short and wide across Habibul Bashar, who added another duck to his poor run of scores by nicking it to Sachin Tendulkar at slip.
That was the beginning of the slide as Bangladesh batsmen gifted their wickets away to Indian bowlers, who hardly deserved the compliment. Ashraful was out to a great catch by Dinesh Karthik at point and Khaled Mashud may have been a trifle unlucky to have been adjudged leg-before to VRV Singh, but the others have no excuse for their mindless act of self destruction that had them staring at follow on at 149 for eight.