Heavy rain calls off first day after Bangladesh lose three

ReportMominul led the visitors’ resistance with an unbeaten 40

Bangladesh 107 for 3 (Mominul 40*, Shanto 31, Akash Deep 2-34) vs India

A combination of bad light and heavy rain meant only 35 overs were possible on the opening day of the second Test between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur, in which Bangladesh scored 107 for 3.

The toss itself was delayed by an hour because of a wet outfield caused by overnight rain. When the toss finally happened, the coin fell in India’s favour. Under overcast skies, Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in opting to bowl first – the first time India had done so in a home Test since 2015.

Rohit expected his three seamers – India fielded an unchanged XI – to exploit the conditions. He said the pitch was a little soft and had a bit more grass than the usual Kanpur surface. Bangladesh read the conditions completely differently. Not only did they want to bat first but also picked three spinners.

Jasprit Bumrah got the ball to move both ways and bowled three maidens to start with, but could not take a wicket. Mohammed Siraj did not find any success either as Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan survived the opening spells. Zakir, in fact, could not open his account despite facing 20 balls in that period.

Things changed when Akash Deep was introduced in the ninth over. With his third ball, he had Zakir walking at him and edging it towards gully, where Yashasvi Jaiswal went low to his right and pouched it with both hands. The TV umpire was consulted about the fairness of the catch. He had only one good angle but it was enough for him to deduce that the ball went straight into Jaiswal’s hands.

A few overs later, Akash Deep struck again. Continuing from around the wicket, he got one to beat Shadman’s inside edge and hit him on the pad. The on-field umpire denied the huge lbw appeal – it looked like the ball, at best, would have clipped leg stump. India opted for a review and, to everyone’s surprise, the projection showed the ball hitting a good chunk of the leg stump.

Shanto came out with a positive mindset and picked up a few streaky boundaries off the outer half of the bat. Mominul, too, had begun tentatively but grew in confidence as the innings progressed. He picked up a four each off Akash Deep and Siraj via the ramp before driving Bumrah through the covers.

As the last over before lunch was in progress, it started to drizzle which delayed the second session by 15 minutes. When play resumed, R Ashwin did not take long to get one go with the arm from around the wicket and beat Shanto’s inside edge to trap him lbw for 31. It ended the 51-run stand for the third wicket.

Mominul and Mushfiqur Rahim had a few nervy moments after that. Akash Deep got Mushfiqur’s outside edge but it went for four through the gap between third slip and gully. Three overs later, Mominul went after a full delivery from Bumrah, only to edge it over the cordon for another boundary.

That was also the last over before it became too dark to continue. Soon, it started pouring down, forcing the umpires to call off play just before 3pm local time.

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo