Chennai. First innings centurion Ravichandran Ashwin played a key role in India’s huge 280-run win over Bangladesh here on Sunday, the fourth day of the opening match of the two-match series, by taking six wickets in the second innings in his familiar style.
Continuing its excellent record against Bangladesh, the Indian team has taken an unassailable 1-0 lead in the series.
Bangladesh team started the day at 158 for four and was all out for 234. Ashwin took six wickets for 88 runs. He got a great support from Ravindra Jadeja who took three wickets for 58 runs. Captain Nazmul Hasan Shanto played a brilliant innings of 82 runs with the help of eight fours and three sixes in 127 balls for Bangladesh but he did not get good support from any batsman from the end.
However, yesterday’s unbeaten batsman Shanto and experienced Shakib Al Hasan (25) had given a good start to the day for Bangladesh. Both kept the Indian bowlers away from success in the first hour of the game. Fast bowler Mohammad Siraj impressed with his speed and line-length during this time but luck did not favor him. The ball came very close to the bat many times and sometimes took the edge of the bat. After taking the edge of the bat, the ball bounced before reaching the fielder’s hands. Shakib hit a brilliant four on a pull shot against Siraj. He also got a lifeline on Jadeja’s ball when Rishabh Pant missed the chance to stump him. After the first hour of play, Bangladesh’s score at the time of drinks was 194 runs for four wickets.
The bowlers were not getting much help from the pitch but Ashwin used his skills brilliantly to trouble left-handed batsman Shakib a lot and then ended his innings by getting caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal at backward shot leg.
Shakib shared a 48-run partnership with Shanto for the fifth wicket. After the partnership was broken, the Indian bowlers did not have to struggle much. Jadeja soon dismissed wicketkeeper Liton Das (01).
Ashwin then dismissed Mehdi Hasan Miraz (08) to equal the great Shane Warne’s record of taking five wickets in an innings for the 37th time in Tests. During this, he surpassed New Zealand legend Richard Hadlee’s record of taking five wickets 36 times. This is the fourth time in a Test match that this experienced all-rounder has taken five wickets in an innings along with scoring a century.
Jadeja then dismissed Shanto and ended Bangladesh’s hopes of fighting. With wickets falling continuously from one end, the Bangladesh captain made a strategy to score runs quickly but was caught by Jasprit Bumrah while trying to play a big shot on Jadeja’s ball. The second test match of the series will be played in Kanpur from September 27.