Dhoni demands improvement after his century rescues India

Bangladesh had surprised all by choosing to bat first despite the dew factor, but captain Shakib Al Hasan's decision was somewhat vindicated as openers Tamim Iqbal (60 from 42 deliveries) and Imrul Kayes (70) raised a solid platform and Mahmudullah (60no) added the finishing touches as Bangladesh posted 296-6 – their highest one-day international total against a Test-playing nation.

But Dhoni hit an unbeaten 101 and was well supported by Virat Kohli (91) and Suresh Raina (51no) as he guided India to victory with 15 deliveries to spare.

India's woeful display with the ball was compounded by an even poorer performance in the field, epitomised by Harbhajan Singh's failure to hold a simple catch from Kayes when the batsman was on four – Nehra the unfortunate bowler.

"If you want to be the No 1 team in the world, you need to perform consistently well with both bat and ball," said Dhoni.

"At the moment, we are winning matches on the strength of our batting, but we need to do better with the new ball and with our bowling at the death.

"Yuvraj Singh was our best bowler and that's something you don't want to see although it's nice that Yuvraj is contributing. You would want your best bowlers to deliver."

Dhoni indicated his players were a long way from being a decent fielding side.

"It's not just a question of lifting our game by a few notches," he said. "I would say we need to improve by at least 50 per cent and that's going to be tough for the players, but that's what international cricket is all about."

Dhoni said he had been under pressure at the start of his innings, but with the others batting around him, his task was made easy.

"When you bat at No 5 and if your team is chasing, more often than not you will be under some sort of pressure," he said.

"More often than not, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh fire at the top of the order so usually there isn't much batting for the No 5.

"This was one of those games where they didn't click, but I was very well supported by Kohli and Raina and with a powerplay in hand we were never really under any pressure."

India had begun their reply poorly, losing their top three wickets inside nine overs.

At 51-3, India were in a spot of bother, but Dhoni and Kohli hauled the visitors back from the brink.

The fourth-wicket pair, playing a risk-free and sensible game, gave India the edge with a

152-run stand.

Kohli, troubled by cramps, had called for a runner shortly after reaching his 50 and was within sight of a century when he perished, Shakib holding a good return catch.

Raina then starred in a 94-run undefeated stand for the fifth wicket, reaching his half-century with what was the final delivery of the innings.

Dhoni had reached his seventh one-day international century only two balls earlier, the milestone garnishing an emphatic victory for India.

Bangladesh captain Al Hasan said: "This is a very good batting track, so we had to bat first. We got runs throughout our innings which was a huge plus.

"Overall, I'm pleased with the effort."