For a change, the batsmen showed consistency by going past the 200-run mark in successive matches and also it was the second time that Bangladesh have crossed the barrier after batting first against India. In the 2000 Asia Cup in Dhaka, the Tigers had scored 249 for 6 against their neighbours.

Young batsman Aftab Ahmed led the home side with a sparkling 67 off 98 balls -- his maiden one-day half-century -- after an all too familiar early collapse which saw the side slump to 37-3 after electing to bat.

However, some late lusty blows by Mashrafee-Bin-Mortuza and Tapash Baisya kept the 40,000-strong crowd on their feet after Aftab had steadied the ship.

Zaheer Khan made the early inroads with his second ball -- the second over of the match -- when the left-arm seamer trapped transformed-opener Mohammad Rafique lbw for a two-ball duck.

Captain Habibul Bashar began in a very combative style, cracking three boundaries off Zaheer in the next four balls but Ajit Agarkar put the home side on the backfoot by dismissing Nafees Iqbal (9 off 22 balls) and Bashar in successive overs.

Nafees slashed the ball to wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni in the seventh over to become Agarkar's 200th victim in ODIs while Bashar (17 off 21 balls) dragged a delivery on to his stumps.

Mohammad Ashraful and Aftab then steadied the rocky ship with a 46-run stand for the fourth wicket. Ashraful, whose 158 not out enthralled the Chittagong crowd in the second and final Test, looked set to revisit his golden touch after failure in the Chittagong ODI whacking two sixes and one four in a fine 28 off 48 balls.

Having hit Zaheer for his first boundary with a straight drive, the prodigy went on to pull the same bowler for a six over square-leg and lofted Murali Kartik over the extra-cover fence in the left-arm spinner's first over.

But Kartik got his revenge in his third over when he lured Ashraful to hit him on the on-side and a mistimed flick produced a tame return catch off the leading edge.

Aftab, who was playing second fiddle to Ashraful, began to flourish but not before Rajin Saleh killed valuable time in the middle. Having failed to score from nine deliveries, the out-of-form Rajin tried to steal a single under pressure. But a direct throw by Yuvraj Singh from short-gully put an end to his agonies.

Left-arm spinners Kartik, who conceded 14 runs in his fist over, and Sridharan Sriram bowled very tight lines but Aftab and Khaled Mashud added 44 runs in nine overs.

After a quickfire 20 off 24 balls featuring two boundaries, Mashud tried to sweep Sriram to force a single. But the wicketkeeper, half-centurion in Chittagong off just 39 balls, failed to slip the ball past Joginder Sharma who took a fine catch at short fine-leg.

Sriram then bowled a maiden over against Aftab who spent nervous moments on 49 but completed his first one-day fifty after nine dot balls. He pushed Sharma to point to complete the personal landmark in the last ball of the 33rd over, facing 77 balls with the help of four boundaries. The 19-year-old, playing only his seventh ODI, struck another four through covers off Sriram and pulled Sharma for a six over long-leg before being bowled by Kartik in the 39th over.

Khaled Mahmud's run out in the 44th over did not affect the Bangladesh batting as Mashrafee, replacing Mushfiqur Rahman after missing the last match, smashed three fours and one six in his career best 39-ball 31 and Baisya notched 17 from 13 balls to help the Tigers rattle 39 runs in the last five overs.

Most of the Indian bowlers suffered in their second spells with Zaheer conceding 24 runs in his last three overs while Sharma giving away 22 from his last three.

India fielded Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Zaheer and Kartik in place of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh.