Innings Bangladesh 233 (Mominul 107*, Bumrah 3-50, Akash Deep 2-43, Ashwin 2-45) vs India
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj ran through the lower order quickly after lunch as Bangladesh were bowled out for 233 about 45 minutes after lunch on the fourth day. They lost their last four wickets for just 28 runs - with Ravindra Jadeja picking up his 300th Test wicket - and left Mominul Haque stranded on 107. Bumrah finished with three wickets with each of the India bowlers picking up at least one.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz hit three fours in the space of seven balls against Bumrah - two of those were courtesy the width on offer. But Bumrah extracted revenge when he got one to angle in from a back of a length and got it to seam away. Mehidy was forced to play at it and edged to slip. In his next over, Bumrah beat Taijul Islam for pace while Siraj did that to Hasan Mahmud to trap him lbw.
When Jadeja dismissed the last batter to reach his bowling landmark, Bangladesh had lost 7 for 126 to concede any advantage they would have hoped to gain.
The morning session was all about the tug of war between a defiant Mominul and the disciplined Indian bowlers. Play resumed after two days were lost to rain and India struck thrice in the extended morning session.
With the sun beating down after successive days of overcast conditions, the pitch showed signs of better carry, but the inherent nature of the black-soil surface meant a few deliveries did keep a tad low. Akash Deep and Bumrah began the day by primarily hitting the area around good length - for varying degrees of lift-off - and tested Mominul and Mushfiqur Rahim's patience. Four of the first five overs of the day were maidens, with the only run scored coming via Mushfiqur's inside edge.
Bumrah then got an in-ducker to bounce more and take Mushfiqur's inside edge again, but this time past leg stump for the first four of the day. It landed around a good length outside, off and, as per broadcast, deviated 2cms into the batter. The very next ball, Bumrah weaved his magic, landing the ball in the exact same spot and getting it to move in sharply - 6cms per broadcast. Mushfiqur decided to leave it based on how the previous delivery behaved, but was stunned after the ball clipped the off stump to end his stay.
Litton Das walked in ahead of Shakib Al Hasan, perhaps to maintain the left-right batting combination. Rohit Sharma had attacking fields for a better part of the first session, with three slips and two gullies being a familiar sight against the fast bowlers. That also allowed the batters enough gaps to hit fours, as Litton did thrice in a Bumrah over, and Mominul did once each against Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj. Mominul, promoted to No. 3 from two-drop in the previous game, brought up a steady half-century in the process.
Litton's adventurousness, though, ended up in his downfall when he charged at a length ball from Siraj and slapped it aerially towards wide mid-off, where Rohit timed his jump perfectly to pluck a one-hander. Shakib's stay in the middle then lasted all of 17 balls, his attempt to use his feet against R Ashwin proving to be his undoing. He could have got away with it, if not for Siraj backtracking from mid-off and holding on to a one-handed catch while falling backwards.
Jadeja was brought on in the 12th over of the day but was never allowed to settle. Mominul was happy to try and sweep him as often as he could, and also used his feet well to loft him straight over to enter the nineties with a six. He then got a couple of lives, first when Rishabh Pant failed to hang on to an under-edge feather when on 93, and then on 95 when Virat Kohli dropped him after diving to his left from wide first slip.
Quite aptly, it was the sweep that helped Mominul to a 13th Test century, his first since June 2023, and only his second outside home. He had scored the bulk of the runs Bangladesh made on the day but was left stranded in the end.
