Dhaka, May 10:

Mahendra Dhoni battled leg cramps to hit an unbeaten 91 as India defeated their World Cup nemesis Bangladesh by five wickets in the first game of the three-match series on Thursday.

Dhoni and Dinesh Karthick (58 not out) put on a match-winning stand of 107 for the sixth wicket as India, reduced to 144-5 chasing Bangladesh’s 250-7, recovered to win with six balls to spare.

Bangladesh’s total was built around opener Javed Omar’s 80 and and a gutsy half-century from Saqibul Hasan, who also took two wickets with his left-arm spin.

The match was reduced to 47 overs a side after a drizzle delayed the start by 50 minutes. India posted 56 by the seventh over for the loss of Virender Sehwag (30) and Gautam Gambhir (21).

Bangladesh dismissed Yuvraj, captain Rahul Dravid and Dinesh Mongia cheaply to reduce India to 144-5 before Dhoni and Karthick guied their team home.

Omar and Tamim Iqbal put on 78 for the first wicket before India hit back with two wickets in the space of four balls.

Mongia finished with 3-49 and Powar took 2-55, but seamer Zaheer Khan was hammered for 54 runs in his seven overs.

The second match will be played here on Saturday, followed by the third in Chittagong on May 15. India will also play two Tests at Chittagong (May 18-22) and Dhaka (May 25-29).

SCOREBOARD

BANGLADESH

J Omar run out 80

T Iqbal c Sehwag b Mongia 45

H Bashar c Gambhir b Powar 0

S Hasan st Dhoni b Mongia 50

M Ashraful b Mongia 29

A Ahmed lbw b Sehwag 16

M Rafique c Karthick b Powar 11

M Rahim not out 1

Extras: 18 (lb1, w13, nb4)

Total: 250/7 (47 overs)

FoW: 1-78, 2-78, 3-185, 4-200, 5-236, 6-240, 7-250

India bowling: Zaheer 7-1-54-0, Sreesanth 5-1-14-0, Patel 7-1-31-0, Powar 10-0-55-2, Mongia 10-0-49-3, Sehwag 8-0-46-1

INDIA

G Gambhir lbw b Rasel 21

V Sehwag c Saqibul b Rasel 30

M Dhoni not out 91

Y Singh c Razzak b Shahadat 1

R Dravid c Razzak b Saqibul 22

D Mongia c Aftab b Saqibul 17

D Karthick not out 58

Extras: 11 (lb4, w6, nb1)

Total: 251/5 (46 overs)

FoW: 1-35, 2-56, 3-63, 4-112, 5-144

Bangladesh bowling: Rasel 9-0-66-2, Shahadat 7-0-43-1, Razzak 9-1-35-0, Rafique 10-0-47-0, Saqibul 9-0-43-2, Aftab 2-0-13-0