Lunch Bangladesh 233 and 146 (Shadman 50, Bumrah 3-17, Jadeja 3-34, Ashwin 3-50) set India 285 for 9 decl 95 runs to win
Once Jadeja removed Shanto with his second ball, Akash Deep had the well-set Shadman caught at gully before Jadeja sent back Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan cheaply to reduce them from 91 for 3 to 94 for 7. There were no demons in the pitch, no vicious turn, just tight and skiddy bowling from Jadeja and the mounting pressure led to Bangladesh’s downfall.
Bangladesh were trailing by 26 when the day of 98 overs started and it was Ashwin who struck early. An unbeaten century in the first innings was studded with impressive sweeps, but the same shot led to Mominul Haque’s downfall when he swept Ashwin straight to leg slip for 2. Bumrah and Ashwin kept Shanto and Shadman on a leash before the latter started his streak of boundaries against the offspinner. He had already collected three fours in the early overs before he unleashed three confident cover drives and a back-foot cut for four fours in seven balls against Ashwin which gave Bangladesh the lead.
When Mohammed Siraj replaced Bumrah, who has been used in short spells this series, his loose deliveries leaked a few more boundaries and Bangladesh were looking confident of building on their lead. He was struck for two fours each by Shadman and Shanto in his opening spell, although one of them was a possible chance but there was no third slip in place.
It’s possible Jadeja was the last one to get the ball because only left-hand batters had been at the crease until he was brought on. And it took him only two balls to strike. Shanto lost his leg stump when he missed a reverse sweep on his first ball against Jadeja, and in his next over Jadeja extracted extra bounce on a pitch that has been keeping slightly low to have Litton caught behind for 1. Between those two overs, Akash Deep pitched one up to Shadman soon after the batter’s half-century, and the push to gully ended his 101-ball stay. Jadeja was all over Bangladesh by now. In his third over he sent back Shakib with an innocuous delivery that was slow through the air, and Shakib only chipped it back to give Jadeja figures of 2.2-1-3-3 early in his spell.
Seven down for 94, Rohit Sharma brought back Bumrah and the spearhead rewarded him by wiping out the tail. His third ball of the fresh spell was a beauty that left Mehidy Hasan Miraz late for an edge. It was only Mushfiqur Rahim who delayed the visitors getting all out and extended the lead towards 100. He used the straight bat confidently against Akash Deep and Bumrah and even belted two back-to-back fours against Jadeja with the help of a reverse sweep and an inside-out drive.
But he was running out of partners. Bumrah trapped Taijul Islam lbw to extend the first session at the stroke of lunch, although Mushfiqur and Khaled Ahmed frustrated them. Mushfiqur started to farm the strike as India opted for two lbw reviews – one against Mushfiqur and Khaled each – off the spinners but on both occasions ball-tracking showed the ball was going over. Ashwin even tried a googly in between in search of the last wicket but again it was Bumrah who brought them success. Back for the last over before lunch, a slow offcutter bowled at 125kmh went through a big swing from Mushfiqur on what would have been the last ball of the session as he put to waste all the hard work with Khaled in the extended half hour.
