India coast to victory

A devastating batting collapse from Bangladesh was instrumental to India's comfortable six-wicket Asia Cup victory in Dambulla on Wednesday.

After proceeding to 155-4 at better than five runs an over, the Bangladeshis lost their last six wickets for 12 runs ? including the last four on 167.

Part-time off-spinner Virender Sehwag wiped out the tail by claiming the last three wickets in five balls to finish with ODI-best figures of 2.5-0-6-4.

Five other India bowlers claimed at least one victim as the more established cricket power asserted their authority.

All had seemed rosy in the Bangladesh garden when they started their innings off at a rollicking pace.

Tamim Iqbal (22 off 12 balls) and Imrul Kayes (37 off 35 balls) posted 35 inside the third over but the dismissal of the former tempered the scoring.

Nonetheless, a respectable total appeared possible when fifth-wicket pair Mushfiqur Rahim (30) and Mahmudullah (23) were at the crease.

Ravindra Jadeja's removal of Mahmudullah ? one of three catches behind the wicket for returning skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni ? then changed the course of the match.

Gautam Gambhir was the mainstay of India's run-chase ? hitting 82 ? with the only brief flicker of hope for Bangladesh coming when skipper Shakib Al Hasan removed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma when the score was on 80.

Dhoni (38 not out) then joined the opener in a fourth-wicket stand of 78 as the run-chase was completed with 15.1 overs to spare, finishing the game off with two successive boundaries off Mashrafe Mortaza.

Bangladesh will now require a victory in their next group match against Sri Lanka on Friday to realistically keep alive their hopes of reaching the final.

Meanwhile, India will go into their crunch game against Pakistan on Saturday in good spirits.