Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja spun the web around the Bangladesh batters as India defeated the visitors by 280 runs to win the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, here on Sunday.
Ashwin (6-88), who was adjudged Player of the match, claimed a five-fer with his match-winning century at his home as Gautam Gambhir’s first Test as India’s head coach starts with an emphatic win.
Resuming from 158/4, skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shakib al-Hasan, the overnight batters, showed a bit of resistance in the first hour and remained unscathed as they added 36 runs in a wicketless hour of the morning, but Bumrah and Siraj kept things tight till the drinks break.
Then came the local lad Ashiwn into the attack after the drinks and struck in his first over of the day, removing Shakib for 25 and broke the 48-run stand. The tourists slipped from 205/5 to 234/10 with the two spinners — Ashwin and Jadeja — ruling the roost. The spin twin shared nine wickets between them. While Jadeja picked three wickets, Ashwin finished with a fifer in addition to his century on the opening day.
Then, Jadeja removed Litton Das as Bangladesh were six down. He bowled a full length delivery outside off stump, Das came forward to defend it but got an outside edge which fell safely into the hands of the Indian Skipper at first slip.
Later, Ashwin completed his fifer with a wicket of Hasan Miraz, reducing Bangladesh to 222/7.
This was the seventh five-fer for Ashwin in the fourth innings of Tests and joint second most alongside Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralidaran and only behind Rangana Herath’s 12.
Jadeja denied Shanto a century as he dismissed the skipper for 82, reducing Bangladesh to 222-8. Shanto tried to slash the ball on the rise but got a top edge. Bumrah went to the right from extra cover and held his balance to complete a fine catch.
Ashwin again joined the party and claimed his sixth wicket after dismissing Taskin Ahmed and India were just a wicket away to go 1-0 in the series. It was Jajeda, who put the last nail in the coffin, picking up the final wicket as he cleaned up Hasan Mahmud and India sealed the win in the first Test to lead the two-match series 1-0.
Earlier, India found themselves in trouble at 144/6 on a seam-friendly pitch in the first innings. Ashwin then stepped in and batted with confidence, notching up his 6th Test century. His vital 199-run partnership with Jadeja helped India recover and post a total of 376.
Then, Bangladesh were skittled out for 149 in 1.5 session with the fifty partnership between Shakib and Litton being the only highlight of their batting.
India did not force a follow-on; instead, centuries from Shubman Gill (119) and Rishabh Pant (109) led India to set Bangladesh a massive 515 run target. The visitors got off to a decent start with their openers being involved in a half-century partnership. They lost four wickets in the final session on day 3.
Brief score: India 376 and 287/4 dec in 64 overs (R. Ashwin 113, Ravindra Jadeja 86, Shubman Gill 119 not out, Rishabh Pant 109; Hasan Mahmud 5-83) beat Bangladesh 149 and 234 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 82, Shadman Islam 35; Ravichandran Ashwin 6-88, Jadeja 3-58) by 280 runs.
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