CHENNAI, India – India spared Bangladesh the ignominy of a follow-on but secured an overall lead of 308 with seven wickets in hand to take control of the opening Test in Chennai on Friday.
The hosts scored 376 in their first innings, making a remarkable recovery from a precarious 34-3, riding on a match-winning partnership of 199 between Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on the seventh wicket.
Seamer Jasprit Bumrah then annihilated Bangladesh, who were bowled out on 149, giving India a comfortable lead of 227 points in the bowler-dominated contest.
A hectic second day saw 17 wickets fall and India finished on 81-3. Shubman Gill was at bat with 33 and Rishabh Pant with 12 at the other end.
Jadeja said India would like to extend their lead by another 120-150 runs before attacking their opponents on Saturday.
“The wicket has something for the fast bowler and also for the spinner. The odd ball will spin or stay low. So I think all five bowlers will be in the game.”
On the red-soiled pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, which offered plenty of bounce and carry, India’s seamers left Bangladesh gasping for air with a score of 40-5.
FIRST OVER
Bumrah struck in the first over of the Bangladesh innings, tricking Shadman Islam into reaching out for a ball that hit the top of the off-stump.
Akash Deep then struck twice in two balls – uprooting Zakir Hasan’s middle stump and flattening Mominul Haque’s – adding to the tourists’ suffering.
Mohammed Siraj dismissed Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto while Bumrah replaced Mushfiqur Rahim – both were caught at slip.
The 51-run stand between Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das was the only resistance from the visitors, but both fell to Jadeja after botching sweep shots against the left-arm spinner.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored 27 but Bangladesh still failed to break the 150 mark. Bumrah was India’s best bowler with 4-50.
India faltered early, losing both their openers within seven overs when they came out to bat for the second time.
Captain Rohit Sharma pushed Taskin Ahmed out while Yashasvi Jaiswal got caught behind Nahid Rana, who played a loose shot.
Virat Kohli went down LBW against Miraz and chose not to review the decision even though replays suggested he had stolen the ball.
Gill, however, seemed unfazed and played some crisp drives.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications.
