India thump Bangladesh by 208 runs in one-off Test (Intro Roundup)

Spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up four wickets each as India bowled Bangladesh out for 250 in their second innings to clinch the one-off cricket Test by 208 runs here on Monday.

Resuming the day at overnight 103-3, Bangladesh lost two wickets in the first session to be at 202-5. Then till the tea session, they lost the rest of the five wickets, struggling against Jadeja, Ashwin and pacer Ishant Sharma, who bagged two wickets.

Following the win, skipper Virat Kohli's side has now gone 19 Tests undefeated -- an Indian record, bettering Sunil Gavaskar's 18-match unbeaten streak between 1976 to 1980.

Kohli also captured six consecutive Test series. They won away against Sri Lanka and the West Indies away before prevailing over South Africa, New Zealand and England.

The latest triumph was a comprehensive show by Virat Kohli-led side. They put up a mammoth total of 687-6 declared in their innings before bowling Bangladesh out for 388. Then, India scored at a rapid pace in their second innings before declaring at 159-4, setting a target of 459 for the visitors to score over a session and a full day.

"Credit to our bowlers, they were able to get result on this kind of a track. Considering that the wicket was very good to bat on, it took a bit of patience for us to get wickets during Bangladesh first innings," said Kohli, who scored 204 and 38 in the two innings respectively and was declared Man-of-the-Match.

"If you have two world class spinners in your side, you can tell your pacers to attack, and that's something that has really worked for us, the partnership between spinners and fast bowlers. They feed off each other," Kohli said.

"This game was again a revelation for Umesh (Yadav), Bhuvi bowled wonderfully with the old ball as well. Ishant has always been a very good old-ball bowler as well."

On the final day, overnight batsman Mahmudullah (64) waged a lone battle as he posted his 13th fifty in Test cricket, while rest of the batsmen failed against the pressure exerted by India at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

The pressure told on the visitors from the morning. Experienced left-handed batsman Shakib Al Hasan could add only two runs to his overnight score of 21. A delivery from left-arm spinner Jadeja bounced high, hitting the rough to kiss Shakib's gloves for an easy catch by Cheteshwar Pujara at short leg in the second over of the day.

At 106-4, captain Mushfiqur Rahim joined Mahmudullah in the middle and the pair negotiated the pressure exerted by India for a while. Mahmudullah opened up with two edgy fours off paceman Umesh Yadav and once he got settled, Jadeja and off-spinner Ashwin failed to trouble him.

Ashwin, however, ended the 56-run partnership as an attacking Mushfiqur danced down the track but couldn't clear Jadeja, who took a running catch at mid-off.

Then Mahmudullah partnered Sabbir Rahman (22) as they showed the doggedness and willingness to battle it out with a 40-run stand for the sixth wicket till the lunch session. Bangladesh were 202-5 at lunch.

Early into the second session, the visitors lost Sabbir and Mahmudullah and afterwards, it was a mere formality for the Indians.

Sabbir was plumb in front of the wickets against a fast delivery from Ishant. Mahmudullah mistimed a pull shot off Ishant and the ball ballooned to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as the tourists were reduced to 225-7, still 234 runs behind.

Then Mehedi Hasan Miraz (23) got an edge off Jadeja's spinning delivery which ended up in the hands of wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha.

Jadeja then removed Tajiul Islam (6) as the left-hander miscued a cross-batted stroke only to be caught by close-in fielder Lokesh Rahul.

Ashwin completed the rout by dismissing the last batsman Taskin Ahmed (1) with a leg before decision following a review by the Indians. The visitors were packed off for 250.

At the end, Kohli's counterpart Rahim too conceded the loss to the Indian bowlers. "It's quite tough out there in the second innings. India have a lot of options, not only among the spinners but the fast bowlers as well."

"Hopefully we learn from this and come up with better performance," he admitted.

--IANS

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