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India v Bangladesh

The big six: Shami stars as rampant India thump Bangladesh

by Rishad D'Souza 4 minute read

Having declared overnight on 493-6, India’s bowlers finished things off in typically dominant fashion on day three of the Indore Test, consigning Bangladesh to defeat by an innings and 130 runs. Rishad D’Souza narrates the story of the day through six deliveries.

Umesh Yadav sets the tone

5.1, Imrul Kayes b Umesh Yadav, 6 (13)

India’s declaration came with a heavy lead of 343 runs. Given how Bangladesh struggled to make breakthroughs the previous day, one wondered whether the pitch had flattened out after that frenetic first day. But the Indian bowlers didn’t take long to dispel such concerns. Umesh dazzled with swing and Ishant with bounce to trouble the hapless openers.

The ball that got Kayes out was an absolute peach. Umesh pitched it full, not only giving the ball more opportunity to swing but also inviting the drive. Kayes obliged and ball curved at the last moment to clip his inside edge before making a mess of the stumps.

Ishant becomes the Broad to Shadman’s Warner

6.6, Shadman Islam b Ishant Sharma, 6 (24)

Ishant was bowling superbly from round the wicket to the left-handers and wasn’t to be denied for much longer. In a dismissal reminiscent of how Stuart Broad dismissed David Warner at Lord’s earlier this year, he set the batsman up by taking the majority of the balls away before suddenly getting one to seam in, beating Shadman’s inside edge before clipping the bails.

Shami delivers again

14.1, Mohammad Mithun c Agarwal b Shami, 18 (26)

After the opening bowlers had their rewards, Shami bowled in testing areas himself, extracting support from the pitch in the form of lift and seam movement. He had Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque trapped in front with an in-seaming delivery from round the wicket.

Mohammad Mithun had looked better than all the batsmen before him. He left decisively and drove with conviction. Bangladesh would have hoped for him to dig in and defy India. But, he was taken by surprise by a sharp bouncer from Shami. He went for an unnecessarily audacious pull shot, which he was never in position to play. He only got a tame top-edge to midwicket as Bangladesh slipped to 44-4. Shami went on to dismiss Mahmudullah with a lifter and then had Taijul Islam with a ferocious short one to finish with figures of 4-31. His excellence in the second innings followed on from 3-27 in the first innings: a terrific performance from the paceman.

A soothing sight for sore Bangladeshi eyes

30.2, Ishant Sharma to Liton Das, four runs

After Shami dismissed Mahmudullah with a lifter for his third wicket, one felt Bangladesh would crumble briskly. And while they did, Liton Das offered some respite with some characteristically gorgeous strokes. He began the show with an imperious cover drive off Shami and soon struck Ishant for three boundaries in an over. Every shot was sumptuous, but the drive off the second ball was the stand-out.

The delivery was over-pitched by Ishant and Liton simply presented the full face to caress the ball straight back down the ground for four. He went on to hit a few more boundaries, almost every one of them competing with each other for the prettiest shot played all day. His innings spurred Mushfiqur Rahim on too, and the duo added 63 runs in quick time until Liton offered a simple catch back to R Ashwin off a checked shot, falling for 35.

Mushfiqur brings up Bangladesh’s only fifty of the match

48.1, Umesh Yadav to Mushfiqur Rahim, two runs

In an otherwise grim match for Bangladesh’s batsmen, Mushfiqur stood out as their best batsman. After getting bowled for 43 in the first innings, he made sure to get to his half-century this time around. He had a slice of luck early on when he was put down at second slip off Shami’s bowling but stubbornly guarded his wicket thereafter.

He started looking a lot more fluent when joined by Liton as the duo added 63 runs for the fifth wicket and maintained the tempo while batting with Mehidy Hasan during another fine partnership, worth 59 runs. He brought up his fifty with a whip to deep backward square leg for a couple of runs.

The closing act

69.2, Ebadat Hossain c Umesh b Ashwin, 1 (3)

On a pitch the Indian fast bowlers bossed proceedings on, there didn’t appear much required from Ashwin, but he was the star of the closing act as desperate Bangladesh batsmen looked to hit him out of the park. Mushfiqur tried to tonk him over the long-off fence and was caught superbly by Cheteshwar Pujara, who had to run back from mid-off to take it over his shoulder.

Shami dismissed Taijul with a ripping bouncer but Ashwin ended proceedings when Ebadat tried to go for the classic No.11 slog, only to be caught at deep midwicket. Bangladesh were bowled out for 213, conceding a massive victory to the rampant hosts.

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