From a position of relative strength to utter disarray in the space of half an hour - that was Bangladesh's story on the final day of the series in Mirpur.
From 290 for 3, they lost six wickets for 14, and only a couple of hefty blows from Mushfiqur Rahim ensured that the innings defeat was avoided. But Zaheer Khan, who had spent much of the morning wearing a back-brace before returning to scalp three in an over, needed just three balls after lunch to make a mess of Rubel Hossain's stumps, and when Shakib Al Hasan's second ball went for byes, the match was over.
Pragyan Ojha had taken the wickets of Mohammad Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan, before ceding the limelight to Zaheer, easily the pick of the bowlers in the series. But there was no hint of the drama to come as Bangladesh made serene progress in the opening hour. Ashraful drove Zaheer through cover, but was largely an amused onlooker as Shahadat Hossain, the nightwatchman, took to the attack with some gusto.
A pull for four off Ishant Sharma bolstered his confidence and though a subsequent top-edged heave over slips betrayed his tail-end roots, there was nothing fortuitous about a lovely straight six off Ojha or a copy-book cover-drive off Zaheer. With Gautam Gambhir then conceding four overthrows, and Ojha clubbed for another four through midwicket, there would have been Indian supporters whose minds strayed to the prospect of a tricky fourth-innings chase.
The sense of unease was compounded when Amit Mishra dropped Shahadat at deep midwicket after he'd given Harbhajan Singh the big heave-ho. There were 51 runs scored before drinks and it was only when Shahadat tried to wallop Harbhajan over long-on again that the wheels came off. This time, Amit Mishra held on to the catch, and the 68-run partnership was over.
Ashraful, who had shown uncharacteristic patience all the while, followed in Shahadat's wake, undone by a beautiful Ojha delivery from round the wicket. Shakib played the most bizarre of innings, striking the first ball he faced for a straight six, and then sweeping one straight to Gambhir at square leg. Resistance breached, MS Dhoni turned to his best bowler.
Brace or no brace, Zaheer was a man on fire. Raqibul Hasan shouldered arms to one that came in with the angle from round the wicket, while Mahmudullah was defeated by late movement and a magnificent catch from Murali Vijay, who took the catch an inch from the ground while diving to his left at second slip. Shafiul Islam's stumps were splayed next ball, and it took some defiance from Mushfiqur to make India bat again. In the event, they didn't even need to play a shot in anger.
