Bangladesh v India

At Chittagong, December 23, 2004. India won by 11 runs. Toss: Bangladesh. One-day international debuts: M. S. Dhoni, Joginder Sharma.

Even with an experimental team, India were simply too good for Bangladesh, and the apparent slimness of the margin was misleading: in reality, Bangladesh were never in the hunt. India quickly slumped to 45 for three, but careful half-centuries from Dravid and Kaif lifted them to 245. Bangladesh's reply showed their mindset: they never really believed victory was possible. Habibul Bashar, the captain, blatantly ignored the scoreboard and the match situation, and helped himself to a 96-ball 65, steering his team to 156 when he was sixth out in the 41st over. Khaled Mashud entertained the crowd with a 39-ball half-century full of sweeps and lofted drives, but victory was never really within striking distance.

Man of the Match: M. Kaif.