The home team scored 234 in reply to Indian's 245 in their 99th appearance in the shorter-version of the game. Interestingly, it was the first time in nine matches Bangladesh have gone past the 200-mark in an ODI after scoring 221-9 against minnows Hong Kong at this year's Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

Skipper Habibul Bashar led the Bangladesh fightback with gritty 65 and young Aftab Ahmed kept his nerve under pressure with an aggressive 30. But it was a sensational half-century 39-ball 50 from wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud and some lusty blows by another experienced player Khaled Mahmud that propelled Bangladesh past 200.

And had the start been a bit more positive and Mohammad Rafique not been magnificently caught by Yuvraj Singh at point, the finish could have been even closer.

Still, going into their 100th ODI at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on December 26, Basher was happy with his side's performance against the formidable Indians in Chittagong yesterday.

"We know that we cannot win overnight. But by bringing down the margin of defeat today we have achieved our first target. If we can carry on like this in the second match we can dream of winning in the third and final game against them. What we always need is a gradual progress and I'm happy with our effort today," the 32-year-old told reporters after the match.

When asked where his team lost the battle while chasing on a wicket that turned more batting friendly after lunch, the Bangladesh captain said that the problem lies in the middle-order.

"We have some weaknesses in the middle-order. But despite the slow progress in the middle I hoped that even if the required ran rate was around nine or ten our strong lower-order batsmen were capable of pushing the Indians at the end," said Bashar.

He however did not want to say much about the sluggish approach of his opener Nafees Iqbal, who scored a painstaking nine off 52 balls before being carelessly run out. Nor did he comment on the non-performance of Rajin Saleh and all-rounder Mushfiqur Rahman.

Bashar was more than happy with the effort of his bowlers, who at one stage had the Indians reeling at 45-3.

"The three pace bowlers in the team especially Nazmul Hossain bowled really well to contain the vastly experienced Indian batting. Tapas might have conceded a few runs in the final overs but that always happen when everybody throw their bats around," Bashar said.

Sourav Ganguly also praised Bangladesh's fightback.

"I think that they competed well. To be honest when it looked like we are winning easily they really gave us a scare, said the most successful Indian captain.

"With 44 runs needed to win it was clear that they were already out of the game but somehow they took 32 odd runs in the last two overs and that set the game up nicely," said Sourav.

Both teams will now return to Dhaka to play the last two games under lights at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on December 26 and 27.