Bangladesh vs India, 1st Test, Day 3, Top Performances: Shubman Gill's 110 and Cheteshwar Pujara's 102* are top performances from Day 3. India set 513 runs target with two days left. Bangladesh need 471 runs with 10 wickets in hand.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 42/0 (Shanto 25*) & 150 (Rahim 28, Kuldeep 5/40, Siraj 3/20) need another 471 runs to beat India 404 (Pujara 90, Iyer 86, Mehidy 4/112) & 258/2dec (Gill 110, Pujara 102*, Khaled 1/51)
After finishing the first innings at 404 on the back of some lower order contributions, India bowled superbly against Bangladesh who had no answer against the pace of Mohammed Siraj and the mystery spin of Kuldeep Yadav. The hosts were looking to avoid conceding a huge lead to the visitors on the third day of the first Test between Bangladesh and India at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
Twin centuries from Gill & Pujara help India setting 513-run target
The 42-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Ebadot Hossain ended early as Kuldeep Yadav picked up his third Test five wicket haul in just eight games. Bangladesh were bundled out for 150 as India enjoyed a heavy lead of 254 runs.
India decided not to enforce the follow on as they went into their second innings with an aggressive mindset. Opener Shubman Gill played some elegant shots to reach his maiden Test century before aggression from Cheteshwar Pujara helped him in breaking the century drought. With a huge lead of 512 runs, India decided to declare the innings to put the tired Bangladesh players in for a brief spell of batting.
Both Bangladesh openers showed determination to hang in there and looked to score runs freely as they reached 42 without any damage at the end of the day’s play.
It was surprising that Kuldeep was given just one over even after taking a fifer in the first innings. However, it was good to see him making a comeback while it’s bit stunning to see Ravichandran Ashwin going wicketless in a Test at the subcontinent. In the batting department, while young Shubman Gill made the most of his chances, KL Rahul too was required to score some runs but he failed again with 23.
Let’s take a look at the top two performances from the third day of the first Test between Bangladesh and India at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
Elegant Shubman Gill celebrates maiden Test century
Even after being set for a huge score, India’s new sensational Test opener Shubman Gill was dismissed to a bad shot during the first innings and he had another chance in the second innings to add some more runs besides his name.
Gill survived an early scare in the third over of the second innings before earning his first boundary that was flashed off the backfoot against Khaled Ahmed. He soon took on Taijul Islam by slashing him right between the slip and gully fielder for two back-to-back boundaries. He then drove Mehidy Hasan Miraz through the covers for another four before notching up his fifth Test half-century with an easy single.
He added four more runs against Mehidy with a shot swept through the deep square leg region. Just after the drinks break, Gill pulled Khaled Ahmed over backward square leg for a six before sweeping Taijul behind the square for anther glorious boundary. Even though he was getting close to the three-figure mark, he never showed any intent to slow down at all as he used his feet to smack the part time spin of Litton Das over long-on for another six.
Gill reverse swept Mehidy for another boundary through backward point before recording his maiden Test match century with another boundary against the same bowler over the mid-on region. He enjoyed the century moment with a six over long-on against Mehidy, before being dismissed on 110 with the help of 10 boundaries and three maximums.
Shubman Gill now has 709 runs in 12 Test matches at an average of 33.76.
Aggressive Cheteshwar Pujara broke century drought with 102*
Cheteshwar Pujara batted beautifully in the first innings for his 90 runs before missing a golden opportunity to bring up a century but with India not enforcing the follow-on, he had another chance to reach the milestone.
After coming in at 70/1 in the 23rd over, Pujara began with a beautiful boundary that was punched through the cover point region against Mehidy Hasan Miraz, before pulling Khaled Ahmed through backward square leg region for the same result.
Pujara rocked back and pulled Yasir Ali through backward square leg for another boundary before advancing and driving the same bowler on the up for another four runs. With a boundary lifted over the mid-off fielder, Pujara got to his second fifty of the game before starting to speed up his innings.
The Saurashtra-based batter drilled Taijul over wide mid-on for another boundary before bringing up his paddle sweep to put Mehidy through fine leg for another boundary. Dancing down the track, Pujara thumped Taijul Islam over mid-off for a boundary before lofting him over mid-on for the same result. The aggressive mindset shown through in his game as Pujara swept fiercely against Mehidy to collect another boundary through backward square leg.
Pujara who has now scored 6984 runs in 97 Test matches at an average of 44.77, remained unbeaten on 102 with the help of 13 boundaries.
Read More: BAN-A v IND-A, unofficial Tests: Saurabh & Mukesh emerge as top two wicket-takers in the series
What to Expect on Day 4
India will look to bowl the right lengths and in the right channel to extract help from the pitch on the fourth day. With 471 runs still required, Bangladesh will have a tough task on their hands; however, they can look to show some fight in the second innings and try to reach closer to the target.
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