New Delhi: India defeated Bangladesh by 188 runs at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram to take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing series. Resuming the innings at 272/6 on Day 5, Bangladesh was bowled out for 324. Zakir Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan top-scored for the hosts in the second innings scoring 100 and 84 runs respectively.
Despite the resilience shown by the Bangladesh batting lineup, Indian bowlers managed to dismiss the hosts to register a victory by a big margin. Kuldeep Yadav was adjudged the player of the match for his brilliant performance with the ball. After picking five wickets in the first innings, Yadav managed to pick up three scalps in the second innings and ended with the match figures of (8/113). Besides Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel also had a good outing with the ball. He picked up 4 wickets and gave away 77 runs. Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and Ravichandran Ashwin picked one wicket each.
Earlier, brilliant performances from the opener Shubman Gill who smashed his maiden test ton and scored 110 runs in 152 balls, and Cheteshwar Pujara who made his fastest hundred in Test cricket scoring 102 runs off 130 balls helped India set a huge target of 513 runs to chase.
India continued to dominate in the first Test against the hosts, striking three more times in the final session of the fourth day of the match, leaving the hosts reeling at 272/6 at the end of the fourth day, with 241 more runs required to win with only four wickets in hand. At the end of the play on Day 4, Shakib al Hasan (40*) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (9*) were unbeaten for Bangladesh.
After tea on Day 4, Bangladesh was at 176/3, with Zakir Hasan (82*) and Mushfiqur Rahim (2*) unbeaten at the crease. Hasan continued to attack Indian bowlers, helped Bangladesh cross the 200-run mark, and brought up his century on his Test debut. Finally, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin gave Men in Blue the much-needed scalp of Hasan, sending him back for 100 off 224 balls. Bangladesh was now 208/4.
India continued to solidify their grip on the match, with spin doing the trick for them. Axar Patel pulled India back into the game, dismissing Mushfiqur Rahim (23) and Nurul Hasan (3). Bangladesh was at 238/6, needing a massive 275 runs to win with only four wickets left.
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz helped the hosts get through the remainder of the day without any damage. Bangladesh was 272/6 at the end of the day, with Hasan (40*) and Miraz (9*) at the crease. India inched closer to victory after making inroads in the Bangladeshi lineup, needing seven wickets to win at the tea break in the first test here at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram.
Umesh Yadav, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav picked up a wicket each to push Bangladesh into trouble as they still have four sessions to bat with only seven wickets in hand. The hosts were left in a spot of bother at 176/3, needing 337 runs to win. India accounted for three wickets giving away just 57 runs in the day's second session to roar back into the game. Mushfiqur Rahim (2*) and Zakir Hasan (82*) were at the crease for Bangladesh at tea.
Resuming the inning at 109/0 after lunch, Bangladesh lost opener Najmul Hossain Shanto soon. Umesh Yadav maintained a tight line and kept the ball in the corridor of uncertainty as the batter poked to produce an outside edge which was caught by Pant. The left-hander played a resilient knock of 67 runs.
The spinner Axar Patel got rid of Yasir Ali (5) to give India its second breakthrough. The Indians completely dried off the runs to create pressure on Bangladesh. Kuldeep dismissed Litton Das who looked completely clueless against the spinner. Litton was dismissed after scoring just 19 runs. The men in blue looked to attack and placed close-in fielders but the Bangladeshi batting pair took their team to tea without further hiccups. Bangladesh could not have had a better start to the day as openers Najmul Hossain Shanto 64(143) and Zakir Hasan 55(109) remained unbeaten at the end of the first session.
The batters played with a high level of resilience on a pitch that had slowed significantly and made the Indian bowlers toil hard. Resuming the day from their overnight score of 42/0, the openers started watchfully, weary of the threat Indian spinners posed on a spin-friendly track.
India started with Kuldeep Yadav who bagged a fifer in the first inning and made life difficult for the Bangladeshi batters in the first inning. The team expected a similar performance from the spinner but the batters were up to the task and countered the chinaman skillfully. Shanto and Zakir played with grit, patience, and concentration on a pitch that had uneven bounce and brought up their fifties. The duo dug in to take Bangladesh to the three-figure mark.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 150 and 324 (Zakir Hasan 100, Shakib Al Hasan 40*, Axar Patel 3/50) vs India 404 and 258/2 declared (Shubman Gill 110, Cheteshwar Pujara 102*, Khaled Ahmed 1/51).
(With ANI Inputs)