Tamim resists India with blistering knock

Tamim Iqbal's blistering 151 exposed India's bowling frailties as Bangladesh batted out of their skin to put up some resistance in the second and final cricket Test at Mirpur on Tuesday.

Left-handed opener Tamim (151) blasted the fastest century by a Bangladeshi player and starred in a record 200-run partnership with Junaid Siddique (55) as the hosts finished day three at a fighting 228 for three.

Mohammad Ashraful (2) and Shahadat (2) were in the middle at stumps with the hosts still trailing by 83 runs behind India, who had declared their first essay at 544 for eight.

Even if his team had their back against the wall, Tamim played positive cricket and took the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck.

The opener needed 101 balls to hammer the fastest Test century by a Bangladesh batsman -- eclipsing teammate Mushfiqur Rahim's 112-ball effort in the previous Test in Chittagong.

The left-hander took 15 runs from the second over after tea, sent down by Pragyan Ojha, with a six and two fours and raced to his second Test hundred with a four off Zaheer with the 2,000-odd crowd roaring at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Tamim and Junaid then went on to add 200 runs for the second wicket -- highest by a Bangla pair for any wicket and against any opposition -- to lead the home side's resistance.

Tamim's attacking 183-ball had 18 fours and three sweetly-timed sixes in it while Junaid hit five fours during his patient 144-ball stay.

It was this double century stand between Tamim and Junaid which was the highlight of the third day's play.

Their association bettered the 191-run stand between Habibur Bashar and Mushfiqur Rahim for the sixth wicket against Sri Lanka in July 2007.

Zaheer Khan (3 for 63), who had removed Imrul Kayes (5) in the morning to draw first blood, dismissed both Junaid and Tamim in his successive overs towards the end to bring India back into the match.

After India's 52 overs of toiling without success, Zaheer broke the stand when he removed Junaid caught behind four overs before close of play.

Nine balls later and in the penultimate over of the day, Tamim edged a Zaheer delivery to Dhoni to perish in the same manner.

Earlier, Dhoni struck 89 to take India to 544 for eight at lunch before declaring the innings as neither Yuvraj nor Rahul Dravid -- who retired hurt on Monday with a broken jaw -- was in any condition to take further part in the match.

Dhoni had to shepherd the tailenders and he did it admirably well for the whole of the morning session which saw 30.1 overs being bowled.

India added just 85 runs in the session, as Dhoni shunned singles and scored mostly in boundaries or twos to shield the tailenders.

Dhoni was out at the stroke of scheduled lunch time.

He faced 167 balls and hit nine fours and two sixes in his 89-run knock, his 17th Test half century in his 41st match.

He shared a crucial 51-run stand for the seventh wicket with Ishant Sharma (13) to take Indian score past 500.

For India, all the specialist batsmen -- barring Murali Vijay (30) -- made 50-plus knocks.

However, the day belonged to Tamim.

He played some delightful shots, including two consecutive straight driven fours off Zaheer.

He later hoisted off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for a four and a six to get past his earlier highest Test score of 128. 

Tamim was dropped on 138 off Virender Sehwag with Sachin Tendulkar making a fine attempt running from mid-wicket but failing to hold on to a difficult catch.

Tendulkar tumbled down and remained on the ground for a while holding on his right shoulder and later walked off the field.

However, the Indian coach later clarified that the Master Blaster didn't suffer any serious injury. 

"Sachin is all right, he is fine," said Gary Kirsten.