Tamim Iqbal hit an impressive half-century as Bangladesh batted steadily in the second and final Test against India on Tuesday.
The left-handed opener scored an aggressive 79 not out for his fourth Test half-century to help his team reach 118-1 in their second innings at tea on the third day. Junaid Siddique was unbeaten on 31 at the break.
Bangladesh are now 193 behind India after conceding a 311-run lead.
India declared their first innings closed at their lunch total of 544-8 in reply to the hosts' 233, with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni making a solid 89.
Indian seamer Zaheer Khan struck in the third over when he had Bangladeshi opener Imrul Kayes (five) caught by substitute Dinesh Karthik, who dived forward to hold on to the ball at short cover.
But Iqbal and Siddique denied India further success with their sensible knocks, adding 99 for the unfinished second wicket. Iqbal has so far struck one six and 10 fours in his 87-ball innings.
India earlier added 85 to their overnight total of 459-5, with Dhoni alone contributing 67.
The Indian skipper, on 22 overnight, completed his 17th Test half-century when he lofted seamer Rubel Hossain over mid-off for a boundary.
He looked set for his fourth Test hundred when he was stumped by Mushfiqur Rahim off part-time spinner Raqibul Hasan on the stroke of lunch. He cracked two sixes and nine fours in his 167-ball knock.
India lost their first wicket early in the morning when Zaheer was caught hooking by Shahadat Hossain at fine-leg off seamer Shafiul Islam for no score.
Spinner Mohammad Ashraful was the other wicket-taker when he had Ishant Sharma (13) caught behind.
Shafiul finished with 3-86 and left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan with 2-118.
Middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh was unable to bat due to a wrist injury while Rahul Dravid, who fractured his jaw after being hit by a Shahadat bouncer on Monday, did not resume his innings.
India lead 1-0 in the short series following their 113-run win in the opening match in Chittagong last week.
| Scoreboard |
| Bangladesh 1st innings | 233 | M. Mahmudullah 96 n o, I. Sharma 4-66 |
| India 1st innings | overnight 459-5 |
| G. Gambhir | c Rahim b Shafiul | 68 |
| V. Sehwag | c Rahim b Shahadat | 56 |
| R. Dravid | retd hurt | 111 |
| S. Tendulkar | c Kayes b Shakib | 143 |
| M. Vijay | c Mahmudullah b Shakib | 30 |
| MS Dhoni | st Rahim b Raqibul | 89 |
| Harbhajan Singh | c Rahim b Shafiul | 13 |
| Zaheer Khan | c Shahadat b Shafiul | 0 |
| I. Sharma | c Rahim b Ashraful | 13 |
| P. Ojha | not out | 1 |
| Extras | b3, lb6, nb10, w1 | 20 |
| Total | for eight wickets decl in 133 overs | 544 |
| Fall of wkts | 1-103, 2-146, 3-421, 4-436, 5-459, 6-467, 7-518, 8-544 |
| Bowling |
| Shafiul 23-1-86-3 (w1), Shahadat 22-2-91-1 (nb2), Rubel 28-1-115-0 (nb8), Shakib 34-3-118-2, Ashraful 9-0-38-1, Mahmudullah 15-0-78-0, Siddique 1-0-9-0, Raqibul 1-1-0-1 |
| Bangladesh 2nd innings |
| Tamim Iqbal | not out | 79 |
| Imrul Kayes | c sub (Karthik) b Zaheer | 5 |
| Junaid Siddique | not out | 31 |
| Extras | b1, lb2 | 3 |
| Total | for one wicket in 29 overs | 118 |
| Fall of wkt | 1-19 |
| Bowling |
| Zaheer 7-0-35-1, Sharma 7-1-33-0, Harbhajan 7-1-24-0, Ojha 8-1-23-0 |
Source: AFP Global Edition
