India vs Bangladesh | Seamers help India seal maiden Day-Night Test and series in Kolkata

11/24/2019

While the Indian bowlers showed the world how to adjust to the fast-moving pink ball, Bangladesh failed to emulate the same. After being dismissed for a measly 106 and suffering through a Virat Kohli masterclass (136), Bangladesh crumbled in the second innings to hand India a series whitewash.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 106/10 (Shadman Islam 29; Ishant Sharma 5/22) & 195/10 (Mushfiqur Rahim 74, Mahmudullah retd 39; Umesh Yadav 5/53, Ishant Shama 4/56) lost to India 347/9 (Virat Kohli 136; Al-Amin Hossain 3/85) by an innings and 46 runs.

Citing the dryness of the wicket as a major factor, Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque, after winning the toss, decided to bat first. He also revealed that his side had made two changes to the team that had lost the first game of the series in Indore with Al-Amin and Nayeem replacing Taijul and Mehidy in the playing XI.

Day 1 | Ishant Sharma’s five-for falls heavy on clueless Bangladesh

As a fully-equipped pacer, with home advantage and a weaker opponent, Ishant Sharma could’ve tried all lengths but stuck to the length that worked best with the pink cherry and that was the biggest reason behind Bangladesh getting decimated. Before Ishant bowled his third over, opener Shadman Islam had smashed Umesh Yadav a couple of fours- both off short deliveries. But then Ishant came in and started what would define Day 1 of India’s maiden D/N Test. Into the fourth over of his spell, he bowled a leg cutter- his latest developed skill- to Imrul Kayes and bamboozled the batsman into an LBW.

The next three wickets, courtesy Yadav and Shami, included the Bangladesh captain and the senior most player as in a matter of another five overs Bangladesh were on shaky ground at 26/4. As Indian bowlers kept racing past the Bangla batsmen, it seemed that they wouldn’t even reach the three figure mark. But they did, getting bundled up for 106 with Ishant bagging a five-wicket haul. In response, India got off to an average start as well by losing both their openers on either side of Tea with just 43 runs on the board. Pujara and Kohli stabilized the innings with a 94-run stand before the former was sent packing just after his half century. But the Indian skipper, along with Rahane, ensured that the hosts finished the day with a commanding 68 run lead.

Day 2 | Bangladesh’s injury troubles pile up after another Kohli record

The Indian batsmen put up their usual dominant show Rahane scoring another fifty and Kohli registering his 27th Test hundred. The Bangladesh bowlers did offer some resistance but they could only manage to restrict India to a point before the hosts declared on 347/9. Trailing by 241 runs, Bangladesh, once again, lost early wickets with Ishant Sharma acting as the destroyer in chief yet again. What looked promising for the visitors in their quest to avoid an innings defeat - the fifth wicket partnership between Rahim and Mahmudullah - fell apart with the latter suffering hamstring pull.

But the wickets falling at regular intervals was not the visitor’s biggest problem. After Liton Das - who was hit on the helmet by Ishant- was replaced with Mehidy Hasan as a concussion substitute, there was another case of a bouncer getting to the batsman’s head in the very next over. This time it was Mohammad Shami with the ball and the victim was Nayeem Hasan who, despite being hit, went on to bat for another eight overs accumulating 19 runs before getting dismissed by Ishant. On Day 2, it was revealed that the spinner was diagnosed with a concussion and a substitute in the form of Taijul Islam. Rahim (59*) kept ticking along, despite not getting too much support from the other end, and guided his side to a score of 152/6 by the end of the day’s play.

Day 3 | Umesh ends Rahim and Bangladesh’s challenge nice and early

With Mahmudullah, whose comeback possibility was to be assessed on Sunday, nowhere to be seen, the onus was on Rahim to delay the inevitable for as long as he could. But he lost his overnight partner Ebadat Hossain ten balls into the day. Rahim tried to accelerate the innings in the hopes of making India take the innings for a second time but his luck soon ran out as he holed out to Jadeja for a well made 74. It didn’t take India long after to seal the win as Umesh, with the wicket of Al-Amin Hossain, wrapped the Bangladesh innings for 195. With the wicket, not only did the pacer earn himself a five-for, he also ensured that India completed yet another cleansweep at home.