India’s batting blitz yields stunning win over Bangladesh in rain-hit Test

India won a race against time to pull off a remarkable seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the rain-hit second Test match.
Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed 51 as India, needing 95 for victory, reached 98-3 in just 104 balls in the second session on the final day at Kanpur.
A draw loomed large over the match after two and a half days were lost to bad weather with only 35 overs played in the first three days at the Green Park Stadium.
Jaiswal reached his second fifty of the match in 43 balls including eight fours and one six before falling to Taijul Islam, ending a 58-run stand with Virat Kohli.
Former captain Kohli hit 29 and was there at the end as Rishabh Pant hit the winning boundary.
Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz had earlier removed Rohit Sharma, for eight, and Shubman Gill, for six.
India rode on Jaiswal’s 72-run blitz in the first innings to force a result in a match which saw no play on Saturday and Sunday because of rain and a wet outfield.
India’s captain Rohit said his team wanted to force a result despite the loss of time.
“We had to think a lot to keep the game moving forward,” Rohit said after the match.
Bangladesh resumed their second innings on 26-2 but the batting fell apart during the first session, with opener Shadman Islam top-scoring on 50. The hosts bundled out Bangladesh for 146 before lunch on the final day.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin broke through in the third over of the day when he had first-innings centurion Mominul Haque caught at leg slip by KL Rahul for two.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who had taken his 300th Test wicket on Monday, struck in his first over of the day when he bowled Najmul, who had made 19.
Shadman reached his fifty off 97 balls but fell almost immediately after to fast bowler Akash Deep.
Jadeja also picked up the wicket of veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, caught and bowled without scoring, in what could be the former captain’s last Test for Bangladesh.
“We didn’t bat well,” admitted Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto.
“If you look at all our batters, they played 30 to 40 balls and then got out. It’s important for one batsman to get big runs.”
Even after India bowled out Bangladesh for 233 on day four, few expected a result until India came out to bat for the first time.
Opener Rohit himself led from the front, whacking the first two balls he faced for sixes and India went on to eclipse Bangladesh’s total in 28 overs scoring at a rate unprecedented in test cricket.
By the end of day four, India declared their innings on 285-9 and even removed both the Bangladesh openers.
“When we came on day four, we wanted to get them out as early as possible and see what we can do with the bat,” Rohit told reporters.
“It was a risk that we were willing to take … when you are trying to bat like that, it’s very easy to get bundled out for a low score as well. Even if we got all out for 150, we wanted to give ourselves a chance to get a result.”
Earlier on Monday, it was breathtaking batting as India reached 50 in three overs, 100 in 10.1 overs, and 200 in 24.2 overs – the fastest ever by a Test team.
The series victory extends India’s lead at the top of the World Test Championship rankings ahead of Australia in second.