Kolkata, November 23: Ishant Sharma snared two wickets to take his tally to seven in the match as Bangladesh were left reeling at 7/2 at dinner on Day 2 of the first pink ball Test at Eden Gardens on Saturday. India Vs Bangladesh, Live Cricket Score 2nd Test Match.
The hapless tourists are still behind by 234 runs with eight wickets in hand as India stayed firmly on course for a big victory and series sweep after declaring at 347/9 riding Virat Kohli's magnificent 136 and fifties from Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara (55).
Bangladesh lost Shadman Islam for a duck as skipper Mominul Islam got out for a pair, the 23rd occasion when the captain did not open his account twice in the same Test match. At the break, Imrul Kayes was batting on 3 with Mohammad Mithun (4 batting) who survived a knock on his helmet grill off Ishant.
In the second session, India lost Ravindra Jadeja (12) and Kohli in quick succession just after the break. Jadeja lost his off stump to Abu Jayed by not offering a shot while it took a stunning catch from Taijul Islam to get rid of Kohli.
The Indian captain flicked a poor Ebadat Hossain delivery to square leg where Taijul, who was axed from the playing XI originally but returned as concussion substitute for Nayeem Hasan on Day 1, threw himself to his right from square-ish long leg to take the catch.
R Ashwin (9) was trapped lbw as the hosts declared soon after with wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha remaining unbeaten on 14. Earlier, Kohli aced the pink ball challenge with a sparkling hundred, his 27th in Tests, to help India consolidate their position and stay on course to bat Bangladesh out of the second and final test and sweep the series.
Kohli got to the landmark, his 70th international ton and 20th as captain, by tucking Taijul for two runs past square leg. The 31-year-old, who now has back-to-back tons at Eden Gardens with the last coming against Sri Lanka in 2017, took 159 balls to get to his century in 234 minutes after being on 59 at Stumps on the first day.
The right-handed batsman shifted gears after getting to his hundred and hit Abu Jayed for four consecutive fours to go into tea break looking good for a double ton. Virat Kohli Equals Ricky Ponting as he Brings up his 27th Century with Pink Ball, Netizens Hail the Indian Captain.
Ajinkya Rahane, who started the day on 23, smashed his 21st fifty but was dismissed soon after for 51 from 69 balls with the help of seven fours as India resumed on 174/3. This was Rahane's fourth consecutive 50-plus score as he added 99 runs with his captain.
Kohli cover-drove Ebadot to reach 99 and, with the crowd chanting his name, took two off Taijul to bring up his century. India triumphed inside three days in the series opener in Indore and a similar thrashing appeared on the cards for Bangladesh who were skittled out for 106 in their first innings.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 106 & 7/2 (Mohammad Mithun 4 n.o., Imrul Kayes 3 n.o.; Ishant Sharma 2/3), India 347/9d (Virat Kohli 136, Cheteshwar Pujara 55; Al-Amin Hossain 3/85)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 23, 2019 07:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).