Star Metro - Liton holds firm but Bangladesh in tatters at tea

Bangladesh were 195-7 with Liton Das (58) holding firm on one side, with the hosts leading by 108 runs.

India missed an opportunity to remove Liton on 20 and then 49 with Virat Kohli dropping both chances.

But there was little support on the other end after opener Zakir Hasan (51) fell soon after lunch.

The Bangladesh bowlers had given their side a glimmer of hope in Friday's final session, restricting India's lead to 87 runs.

The visitors looked like they would amass a mammoth total when Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer were running rampant.

The middle-order duo both crossed fifty at rapid pace, scoring 93 and 87 respectively, but Bangladesh knocked over the last six Indian wickets for 61 runs.

However, Bangladesh's hopes of making the match competitive were quickly dashed on day three.

After Zakir struck the second ball of the day for a boundary, India took control of the match with a flurry of wickets.

Ravichandran Ashwin trapped Najmul Hossain leg-before for five in the second over of the day before Mohammed Siraj removed Bangladesh's first-innings top-scorer Mominul Haque for the same score.

Jaydev Unadkat then picked up a wicket in his first over of the day when skipper Shakib Al Hasan spooned a length delivery to Shubman Gill at cover for 13.

With the hosts struggling, Axar Patel added to their misery on the stroke of lunch, trapping the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim lbw for nine.

Axar picked up two more after lunch, getting Mehidy Hasan lbw for nought before drawing Nurul Hasan (31) out of his crease to set up an easy stumping for Pant.

India won the first Test of the two-match series by 188 runs in Chittagong.

F.T. Michaud--SMC