2nd Test, Day 3: India need 145 runs to win the series 2-0 after bowling out Bangladesh for 231

Dhaka:  India need 145 runs to win the series 2-0 after bowling out Bangladesh for 231 in their second innings on day three of the second Test on Saturday. With the pitch slowing down, the Indian batting line-up have a job at their hands.

Bangladesh were reeling at 113/6. But Litton Das’s counter-attacking 73 helped the hosts get 118 runs off the last four wickets. He led the hosts’ fightback with crucial partnerships of 46 with Nurul Hasan, who made 31 and had a 60-run partnership with Taskin Ahmed, who made an unbeaten 31.

For India, left-arm spinner Axar Patel ended with 3-68, while Mohammed Siraj and Ravichandran Ashwin had two wickets each while Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat had a wicket apiece.

Das began the final session with a lovely lofted drive over cover for a boundary off Mohammed Siraj. He then punched off Axar Patel through backward point for four more. Taskin Ahmed got a thick edge past gully off Siraj, bringing the half-century of the partnership.

Mohammed Siraj broke the 60-run partnership off 76 balls when got a length ball outside the off stump to come in sharply and castle Das through the gate. In the next over, Taijul was trapped lbw by Ravichandran Ashwin and took the DRS to change the on-field call, but replays showed impact on the umpire’s call as the ball just clipped the leg-stump.

Taskin and Khaled Ahmed took a boundary each off Siraj and Ashwin respectively before the latter was run-out while trying to take a tight single through the leg side. But Shubman Gill at short-leg collected the ball quickly and threw it to the bowler’s end to catch Khaled short of his crease.

Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj took out Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque early in the morning, followed by Jaydev Unadkat and Axar Patel dismissing Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim respectively till lunch came.

Post lunch, India took three wickets in the session, including ending Zakir Hasan’s resistance at 51. But the visitors didn’t help themselves with dropped catches, with Virat Kohli dropping Das twice on 20 and 49. That helped Bangladesh as Das, Nurul and Taskin played crucial knocks to lead a Bangladesh fightback and set India a stiff target.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 227 & 231 all out in 70.2 overs (Litton Das 73, Nurul Hasan 31; Axar Patel 3-58, Mohammed Siraj 2-41) lead India 314 by 144 runs

–IANS