Asia Cup

At Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo, July 21, 2004. India won by eight wickets. India 6 pts. Toss: India.

The first phase of the tournament might have ended, but the mismatches continued. India, defeated in Dambulla three days earlier, knuckled down against Bangladesh and eased to an eight wicket win in which Tendulkar starred with bat and ball. First he gobbled up three wickets with his leg-breaks to help bowl out Bangladesh for 177 and then, in partnership with Ganguly, he guided India towards victory with 82 not out. It was not vintage Tendulkar - he started hesitantly against some niggardly left-arm spin from Abdur Razzaq, who opened the bowling - but he had blown away his early-season cobwebs by the close. Nehra proved an effective replacement for Zaheer Khan, who had picked up a hamstring injury against Sri Lanka, but it was Pathan who grabbed the initiative with a fine new-ball spell of swing bowling.

Man of the Match: S. R. Tendulkar.