IND vs BAN: Ashwin's All-Round Brilliance Paves Way For India's 3-Wicket Win Over Bangladesh; Men In Blue Clinch Series 2-0

IND vs BAN: Ashwin was adjudged the Man of the Match for his figures of 4/71 and 2/66 but more importantly for his unbeaten 42* which took the team over the line in the fourth innings of the 2nd Test.

Ashwin plays a shot during his match winning knock in the second innings of the second Test match at the Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka. ( Image Source :Twitter/@ICC )

On a dramatic day 4 of the second Test match between India and Bangladesh at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka on Sunday (December 25), India found themselves in a difficult situation, having lost their 7th wicket at 74, chasing 145 in the 4th innings. Bangladesh's Mehidy Hasan Miraz looked in no mood to let the visitors walk away with the game and with Shreyas Iyer and R Ashwin batting in the middle, the pair looked to be India's last hope on a pitch offering more help to the spinners as the innings progressed.

But as it turned out, Ashwin (42*) and Iyer (29*) helped India get over the line and kept the Men in Blue undefeated against Bangladesh in Test matches with the help of an unbeaten 71-run partnership when that's exactly what was asked of them. While initially both Iyer and Ashwin looked to get the team closer to the target, when the 145-run mark appeared closer, Ashwin went for his shots to put the pressure on the opposition as is evident with him accumulating 16 runs of the 47th over in which India won.

Umesh Yadav, R Ashwin Scalped 4 Wickets Each In India's First Innings With The Ball

After opting to bat first, having lost the first Test match, Bangladesh batters failed to put an impressive total. The hosts put on 227 with Mominul Haque top-scoring for them with a score of 84. Umesh Yadav (4/25) and R Ashwin (4/71) were the pick of the bowlers for the Indian team who decided to leave out their Player of the Match from the previous game Kuldeep Yadav to give a chance to Jaydev Unadkat who too was impressive finishing with figures of 2 for 50.

In response, India's batting looked in trouble too when they had lost their 4th wicket at the score of 94. However, quickfire half-centuries from Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer helped India take a lead. Both batters however, missed out on a hundred with Pant falling on the score of 93 and Iyer getting out shortly after having made 87. Their partnership meant despite the Bangla Tigers wrapping up the Indian tail quickly, the visitors already had an 87-run lead. Taijul Islam (4/74) and Shakib Al Hasan (4/79) were the best bowlers for the home team in the first innings.

Litton Das And Zakir Hasan With Fighting Half-Centuries For Bangladesh In Second Innings

In the second innings, Bangladesh scored 231, just 4 more than what they had managed in the first innings. Litton Das (73) and Zakir Hasan (51) this time took the onus on themselves to fight it out with both batters scoring a half-century. Neither of them though could convert it into a big hundred. They would have been bowled out for an even lower total had it not been for Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed's useful contributions of 31 runs each which set a fourth innings target of over 100 runs for India. Axar Patel picked 3 for 68 for India while Mohammed Siraj and Ashwin also finished with 2 wickets each.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz Scalps Fifer But To No Avail

While the team's record chasing over 100 in the fourth innings wasn't very encouraging, it looked to be going Bangladesh's way when India ended Day 4 at 45/4, losing all of KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli. On Day 4 morning, the touring side lost 3 more wickets for less than 30 runs added but Ashwin and Iyer took charge from there and denied Bangladesh what would have been a famous win for them in Test match cricket. 

Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan were the wicket-takers for them in the final innings with Mehidy managing to scalp a fifer (5/63) and the skipper returning with figures of (2/50).

Brief Scores: 

BAN 1st innings: 227  (Mominul Haque 84, Mushfiqur Rahim 26; Umesh Yadav 4/25, R Ashwin 4/71)
IND 1st innings: 314 (Rishabh Pant 93, Shreyas Iyer 87; Taijul Islam 4/74, Shakib Al Hasan 4/79)
BAN 2nd innings: 231 (Litton Das 73, Zakir Hasan 51; Axar Patel 3/68, Mohammed Siraj 2/41)
IND 2nd innings: 145/7 (R Ashwin 42*, Axar Patel 34; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5/63, Shakib Al Hasan 2/50)