After two days of no play, the Kanpur Test came to life on the fourth day of the second and final Test between India and Bangladesh on Monday. The Tigers were still trailing by 26 runs in the second innings on a day that saw 18 wickets fall.聽
Mominul Haque hit a defiant hundred in the first innings after waiting more than two days to resume, but others could not match his suit as Bangladesh got all out for 233.聽
India then came with all-guns blazing with the bat to put up a record 285 from just 34.4 overs before they declared the first innings with one wicket in hand. Yashashvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul both hit fifties with strike rates of over 140.聽
Currently sitting at the top of the ICC World Test Championship table, India made it clear that they鈥檇 push for a result. They got early success in the second innings with the ball as Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed opener Zakir Hasan (10) and nightwatchman Hasan Mahmud (4).聽
Shadman Islam held the fort for the time being as he remained unbeaten on seven off 40. First innings centurion Mominul was with him on naught.
Mominul was not out on 40 when rain halted the play on the first day. On the first session of the fourth day, Bangladesh added 98 runs but lost three wickets, with Mominul scoring 62 of them.聽
Mushfiqur Rahim was the first man to go as he shouldered his arms off a nip-back Jasprit Bumrah delivery.
Liton Das and Shakib Al Hasan fell for two spectacular catches by Rohit and Mohammed Siraj off Siraj and Ravichandran Aswhin, respectively.聽
Mominul gave two chances on 93 and 95, but eventually got to his 13th Test hundred, which is one of his best innings given the context.
The 33-year-old left-hander took advantage of every loose delivery and played all kinds of shots throughout the innings for his second overseas hundred.
Mehidy shared a 50-partnership with Mominul before falling to Bumrah. Bangladesh survived only 50 balls after lunch to lose four wickets on a surface that offered seam movement and low bounce.
Mominul, batting at number three for the first time since April 2023, hit 17 fours and one six.聽
All the Indian bowlers were among the wickets, with Bumrah picking three, but the spotlight was on Jadeja, who caught and bowled Khaled Ahmed to take his 300th Test wicket.聽
India鈥檚 intention was clear from the very first over as Jaiswal hit three fours in a row off Hasan. Rohit hit Khaled for a six in the first ball he faced.聽
India reached 50 in just three overs, which is the fastest in Test history. Not only that, India now holds the fastest 100, 150, 200, and 250 team runs in Tests (where records are available).
Rohit was bowled by Mehidy for 23 after just surviving a poor lbw call via DRS, but others followed the template.
Bangladesh, though, should have gotten the wicket earlier, as they missed an opportunity when Rohit nicked behind and they didn鈥檛 take the review.聽
Jaiswal added 72 with Shubman Gill before chopping on off Hasan. The left hander hit 12 fours and two sixes.聽
Rishabh Pant was sent at four ahead of Kohli, but that didn鈥檛 work out as Shakib dismissed Gill and him in consecutive overs.聽
But India didn鈥檛 hesitate to attack, and the defensive field set by Najmul Hossain Shanto helped them too. Bangladesh were wayward in the field as Khaled missed a simple run out chance to dismiss Kohli.聽
Kohli and Rahul added 87 runs off just 59. Rahul reached his fifty in just 33 balls, but Kohli couldn鈥檛 make it as he was bowled by Shakib while trying to play a big shot. India鈥檚 last four pairs could add 39 runs.聽
India鈥檚 run rate of 8.22 is now the highest where a team scored at least 250 runs in Tests. The previous record belonged to England when they scored 264-7 at 7.36 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022.聽
Shakib and Mehidy both took four wickets apiece, but none could get the opportunity to take five, as Rohit declared with 45 minutes still left in the day.聽