India’s ultra-aggressive batting approach on the penultimate day of the second Test in Kanpur paid rich dividends as they secured a seven-wicket victory to complete a 2-0 whitewash of Bangladesh at the Green Park on Tuesday.
Merely 24 hours after adopting a T20-styled approach to push for a near-unthinkable victory in a game in which only 35 overs had been bowled in the first three days, India relied on a collective effort from the bowlers to stifle the Bangladeshis and skittle them out for 146 to set themselves a meagre target of 95, which the batters achieved with more than a session to spare.
India lost three wickets in pursuit before Rishabh Pant hit the winning runs in the chase set up by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 43-ball half century, and extended their lead at the top of the World Test Championships (WTC) points table. This all-out attack batting style helped India break the record for the highest run rate in a Test match. Their run rate of 7.36 surpassed the previous record of 6.80, set by South Africa against Zimbabwe in Cape Town in 2005.
Resuming the day at 26 for 2, Bangladesh soon found themselves in deep trouble once Ravindra Jadeja, who started the proceedings in the company of Akash Deep, triggered a collapse with three wickets in successive overs, following which the visitors lost their last seven wickets for just 55 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah also finished with three each.
Jadeja first struck with the wicket of skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (19), who along with opener Shadman Islam stitched together a stubborn 55-run stand, before sending back Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan in the next two overs. The quick breakthroughs reduced Bangladesh from 91 for 3 to 94 for 7, and allowed India a sniff at the victory post. It was a matter of time after that as Bumrah wiped out the tail to leave India needing 95 runs for an outright victory.
Bangladesh were trailing by 26 when the final day of 98 overs started and Ashwin, who already had jolted the tourists with two wickets in the dying hours of Monday, struck again with the scalp of first innings centurion and overnight batter Mominul Haque cheaply. At the other end, Shadman led the counterattack with a string of boundaries against Ashwin that gave Bangladesh the confidence and the lead.
Mohammed Siraj also helped Bangladesh’s cause by leaking a few boundaries, and allowing Shanto to settle in even as Shadman neared a much-deserved half century. With both left-handers going after the bowling, Rohit Sharma finally had to bring in his left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and the veteran Rajkot all-rounder struck immediately with the wickets of Shanto and Litton in his first two overs. Between those two overs, Akash Deep pitched one up to Shadman soon after the batter’s half-century, and the push to gully ended his 101-ball stay.
By then, Jadeja was all over Bangladesh as he sent back the dangerous Shakib with a simple return catch off his follow-through. Tottering at 94/7, Bangladesh were further jolted after the reintroduction of Bumrah, with Mehidy Hasan Miraj and Taijul Islam back in the dressing room soon in an extended morning session. Mushfiqur Rahim, the last recognised batter for the tourists, managed to delay the inevitable and frustrate the hosts, before a slow off-cutter from Bumrah ended his laborious 63-ball 37, and Bangladesh’s resistance at lunch.
After the break, India began the chase aggressively, but soon suffered two casualties with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill perishing for single-digit scores. However, Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 off 45 balls) continued his red-hot form to anchor the chase with his third half-century of the series, and almost took the hosts over the line with a brisk 58-run third wicket partnership with Virat Kohli (29 not out). With India needing another three runs, Jaiswal miscued a swing to the off, leaving the formalities for Pant (4 not out).
Jaiswal was named the player of the match while Ashwin, who finished with 11 wickets – other than his century in the Chennai Test – was named the player of the series.
Brief Scores: India 285 for 9 dec (Jaiswal 72, Rahul 68, Mehidy 4-41, Shakib 4-78) and 98 for 3 (Jaiswal 51, Kohli 29 not out, Mehidy 2-44) beat Bangladesh 233 (Mominul 107 not out, Bumrah 3-50) and 146 (Shadman 50, Bumrah 3-17, Jadeja 3-34, Ashwin 3-50) by seven wickets.