Sachin Tendulkar completes a 44th Test ton

Sachin Tendulkar completes his 44th Test ton, even as India were dismissed for just 243 in their first innings at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium, in Chittagong, on Monday Jan 18, 2010.

Play on day 2 commenced after yet another 90-minute delay, because of fog and bad light, akin to the opening day. And it took Bangladesh a ball less than eight overs to polish off the Indian tail.

Tendulkar remained unbeaten on 105, his knock comprising 11 hits to the fence and two huge ones over it. The ace batsman began the day with a flourish. Unbeaten on 76 overnight, he took seven runs off the day's first over (by Hossain), including a pull to the square leg fence.

In the next over (by Shakib) he danced down the pitch and lofted the ball over mid-on for yet another boundary.

With just two wickets left, the 36-year-old realized that he had to take a calculated risk at some point and made his intentions clear at the outset.

The last ball of Shakib's next over went beyond the mid-on fence, Tendulkar's second maximum of the innings.

But Ishant could give him company only for a little less than five overs, edging a Hossain delivery to Mushfiqur Rahim behind the stumps. India 230 for nine.

Ishant's wicket gave Hossain his third five-wicket haul in Tests. The batsman failed to add to his overnight score of one.

However, in the final two balls of the same over, Tendulkar first smashed the ball to the cover fence and repeated the feat with the next, this time steering it between gully and backward point to complete his 44th Test hundred.

The Master Blaster, who crossed the 13,000 Test runs milestone on the first day, bolstered his records tally with yet another addition.

But S Sreesanth (1) failed to provide the requisite support for Tendulkar to carry on, getting caught at silly point by Imrul Kayes (off Shakib).

It was the Bangladesh skipper's sixth five-wicket haul in Tests and ensured the visitors were dismissed for a paltry 243.

It was the second lowest total by a team against Bangladesh -- after a second string West Indies side had been dismissed for just 237 at St George's Park last year.

Shahadat Hossain and captain Shakib Al Hasan were the pick of the host's bowlers, both helping themselves to five-wicket hauls.