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by IANS |
Chattogram, Dec 14 (IANS) Bangladesh took out captain K.L. Rahul, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli in the first session of the Test series opener to restrict India to 85/3 in 26 overs. At lunch, Rishabh Pant was unbeaten on 29 with Cheteshwar Pujara giving him company at 12 not out.
For Bangladesh, left-arm spinner Taijul Islam picked two wickets while Khaled Ahmed had a scalp against his name in a wonderful morning session for the hosts.
Electing to bat first on a seemingly good batting pitch, which had just a hint of nip and the odd ball stayed a tad low, Rahul got off the mark with an inner edge on the flick going through fine leg.
With the pacers giving some width, Rahul latched on by slashing hard through gully, while Gill scythed through cover point. Rahul then welcomed Shakib Al Hasan by cutting fiercely off backfoot, while Gill continued to slash and pull on the width offered by Ebadot Hossain.
With no boundaries for almost seven overs, Bangladesh had their first breakthrough when Gill played a pre-mediated paddle sweep and was caught at leg-slip off Taijul, departing for 20.
Five overs later, Rahul opened the face of the bat to steer a length ball from Khaled but chopped onto his stumps. In the next over, Kohli (1) tried to flick through leg-side on backfoot but was trapped right in front of the middle stump by a sharp turning-in delivery from Taijul.
Pant, promoted to number five to counter Taijul, started with a flurry of runs for India. He pulled a short ball from the left-arm spinner powerfully through square leg and got down on one knee to sweep him past leg-slip to collect a brace of boundaries.
When Taijul flighted the ball, Pant danced down the pitch to smash him over wide long-on for six to throw him slightly off his control on line and length. As he and Mehidy Hasan Miraz gave width, Pant was quick to cut and guide the deliveries through the off-side for boundaries. Pujara also cut Taijul off the backfoot to steer India to safety at lunch.
Brief scores: India 85/3 in 26 overs (Rishabh Pant 29 not out, KL Rahul 22; Taijul Islam 2-34, Khaled Ahmed 1-17) against Bangladesh
