A brief stutter in the middle and two light towers that malfunctioned for a while failed to stymie India's progress towards victory.
Gautam Gambhir's 82 and the vast gulf in quality between India and Bangladesh also helped M.S. Dhoni's men start their campaign in the Asia Cup on a winning note at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium here on Wednesday.
India won by six wickets after successfully chasing Bangladesh's 167 in 34.5 overs. India scored 168 for four in 30.4 overs and also gained a bonus point.
Virender Sehwag, who earlier proved that his shoulder is in fine shapewith a spell of four for six, failed to take flight as a batsman despite an upper-cut and a flick that went for fours. Sehwag snicked Mashrafe Mortaza while Gambhir, who danced down and smote Mortaza and Syed Rasel, buckled down and donned the anchor's role.
A light interruption caused by the failure of two towers was clubbedwith the dinner break and on resumption, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan delivered a twin blow to slow down India's pursuit. Virat Kohli was drawn forward and the bails were whipped in a flash and the next delivery — an arm ball — trapped Rohit Sharma.
At 80 for three in the 15th over, Dhoni joined Gambhir (82, 101b, 6x4) and the target was whittled down gradually. Gambhir enjoyed a reprieve on 48 when Tamim Iqbal grassed an upper cut off Shafiul Islam. The opener fell on the verge of victory before Dhoni steered India home.
In the evening, Sehwag, who missed top-flight cricket due to a shoulder injury that cropped up at the end of the Indian Premier League's third edition, drew circles around the Bangladesh batsmen with a spell of 2.5-0-6-4. Off-spinner Sehwag started his wicket-taking act by prising out Mushfiqur Rahim and went on to polish off the tail with a three-wicket burst in his third over. This was Sehwag's best spell in ODIs, eclipsing his three for 25 against South Africa at Colombo in 2002.
Sizzling start
Earlier, the Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes (37) freed their arms through a packed off-side field as Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan offered width. Tamim, fresh from his Test hundreds at Lords and Manchester against England, flicked Praveen for six while Kayes tucked into Zaheer's first over with three fours. The impetuous streak, however, undid the top-order as Tamim tried to drill Praveen past an agile Suresh Raina while Mohammad Ashraful flicked uppishlyand perished. Kayes popped up a lazy pull, the last two falling to Ashish Nehra who was playing his 100th ODI.
The spinners then dismantled the Bangladesh innings as Harbhajan Singhbefuddled Shakib with one that held its line. Mushfiqur Rahim (30) and Mahmudullah stemmed the rot with a 55-run fifth-wicket partnership, but streaky inner-edges hinted at an imminent disaster. Mahmudullah and Rahim soon warmed Dhoni's gloves even while Ravindra Jadeja and Sehwag exulted.
Endless smiles
The lower-order remained tentative against spin as Rohit scalped Naeem Islam and the 35th over proved to be one long display of Sehwag's endless smiles.
Sehwag struck with the first, fourth and fifth deliveries of his third over as Suhrawadi Shuvo, Shafiul Islam and Syed Rasel were clueless as pads were rapped and stumps got disturbed.
Thursday is a rest day and Sri Lanka plays Bangladesh on Friday.
