Kaarthick-Jaffer on song as India reach 175 at tea

Dhaka, May 25 (UNI) Dinesh Kaartick and Wasim Jaffer fought off the early morning blues to power India to a commanding 175 for no loss at tea on the opening day of the final Test against Bangladesh here today.

At tea both the openers looked set for their centuries with Jaffer batting on 86 and Kaarthick on 82. It was a good toss to lose for India, as after being put into bat by Habibul Bashar, the openers made merry on a good strip after the seeing off the first two hours cautiously.

Kaarthick who is batting on 82 was a treat to watch. The tentativeness of the morning session was gone and as the sun shone brightly on the beautiful park, Kaarthick also dazzled.

The first over he faced after lunch was a treat to see as he straight drove Mortaza for two boundaries before flicking him for a third of his legs. Mortaza limped off the field the next over with a sprained left ankle, but there was no pulling corks on Kaarthick as he opened the face of the bat to hit Rasel for another cerebral boundary, clinically dissecting the second slip and gully.

The life which Kaarthick got at the hands of Shakib-al-Hasan from the bowling of Sayed Rasel at 10 in the second slip, was now looking costly as he grew in confidence stepping out to hit Mohammed Rafique for two boundaries to bring his half-century, studded with 8 hits to the fence.

On the other side, Jaffer began the post lunch session driving Rafique uppishly for an easy caught-and-bowled opportunity that the bowler allowed to slip through his fingers.

Having received a life at 42 for that minor aberration in concentration, Jaffer went back to his usual self. He drove the bowlers repeatedly of the front foot and a square drive of Mohammed Sharif in his inaugural over remained the signature shot of the morning.

Jaffer brought up his fifty pulling Rasel to the mid-wicket boundary, which also brought up India's 100. He laced his innings with seven boundaries.

India stroked away to the 150 mark in 44.3 overs. While the first 50 of the Indian innings came off 105 balls, the third one came of only 66 balls proving their dominance over the hosts' bowling attack.

Earlier in the morning, India made a painstakingly slow start with the two openers looking in no hurry to score runs. While the juice in the wicket gave some aid to the bowlers, the pitch was generally slow with the odd ball stopping after landing, which made strokeplay difficult making the Indian openers got inside their shelves waiting for the conditions to improve.

At 67 for no loss during lunch, India looked set for a big target, with Kaarthick on 22 and Wasim on 40.

Earleir, the hosts recalled 21-year-old fast bowler Mohammad Sharif in the squad after a period of three years in place of Enamul Haque (Jr), and Syed Rasel made it to the XI as Shahadat Hossain was down with fever. India, on the other hand, gave rookie pacer Ishant Sharma his first Test cap, after he was called up to replace injured Munaf Patel who flew back home.

Anil Kumble who did not bowl in the last game owing to a viral fever, looked fit and ready to go here. India could only hope that he would get some rich rewards and lend some teeth to the bowling department which otherwise looked very ordinary at Chittagong.

Both teams were hoping for a rain-free match after bad weather wiped out any prospect of a result in the first Test. However, scattered clouds hovering over the ground kept the groundsmen on their feet.

UNI