India set 515-run target for Tigers

India declared their second innings on 287-4, setting up a mammoth 515-run target for Bangladesh with two and a half days left in the match in the second session on Day 3 of the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today.
Shubman Gill completed his fifth Test century and remained unbeaten on 119 while Rishabh Pant made 109 off 128 balls, helping India push their lead over 500.
Mehedi Hasan Miraz claimed two wickets while pacers Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana took one wicket each for Bangladesh.
India had resumed the day’s play on 81-3. Overnight pair of Pant and Gill remained unbeaten throughout the first session, adding 124 runs to the total to extend the lead beyond 400.
Pant departed soon after Lunch, falling to Miraz after completing his ton, while Gill remained unbeaten.
Bangladesh, who were bundled out for a mere 149 in the first innings, now have a herculean task ahead of them in the fourth and final innings of the match.
 
Mehedi Hasan Miraz dismissed Rishabh Pant soon after the left-hander notched up his sixth Test century as India are now 234-4, leading by 461 runs in the second session on Day 3 of the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today.
Pant completed his century soon after the Lunch break and made 109 off 127 balls before giving a return catch to Miraz.
The dismissal also ended a 167-run stand for the fourth wicket between Pant and Shubman Gill, who is on 88.
KL Rahul has now joined Gill at the middle.
 
Bangladesh bowlers are having to struggle to create chances, and they failed to grab the biggest one when arrived, as overnight batters Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill saw India take their lead past the 400-run mark on Day 3 of their first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today.
India reached 205 for three after 51 overs in their second innings, leading by 432 runs at lunch. Pant remained unbeaten on 82 and Gill made 86 not out.
However, the visitors made a mess of the biggest chance that they were able to create today as skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto dropped Pant on 72 when the left-handed batter skied one after miscuing a slog sweep off a Shakib Al Hasan delivery in the 49th over.    
Both Pant and Gill played positively to stitch an unbeaten 138-run fourth-wicket stand since resuming the day on 81 for three under overcast conditions as they took the attack to the Bangladesh bowlers, who are getting almost no purchase from the surface. 
Bearing the brunt of most of the aggression from the two batters were Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Shakib as both Pant and Gill were not afraid to use their feet against the spinners. Gill danced down the track to hit Miraz for two sixes in an over, bringing up his seventh Test fifty off 79 deliveries with the second maximum. Gill would go on to hit Miraz for another six later on as well. 
Pant, who started the day rather slowly, picked up pace and also smashed a one-handed six over long-off after stepping out of the crease against Miraz.
Pant, who got to his 12th Test fifty, has also not been shy of playing some cheeky shots, scoring boundaries with some slog sweeps off the bowling of Shakib even after being dropped once. Pant also welcomed Shakib into the attack by reverse-sweeping him for a boundary, with which he brought up his 100-run stand with Gill. Pant also struck Shakib for two boundaries in the final over before lunch.    
 
Overnight batters Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill extended India’s lead to 356 runs on Day 3 of their first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today.

Having resumed the day on 81 for three, Pant and Gill took India’s score to 129 for three after 38 overs in their second innings. Bangladesh were bundled out for just 149 runs in 47.1 overs in their first innings yesterday after India posted 376 all out in 91.2 overs in theirs.  
Bangladesh bowlers were not able to trouble either of the batters, with Gill playing the aggressor’s role in the first hour of the third day. Gill hit off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Mriaz for two massive sixes, bringing up his seventh Test fifty off 79 deliveries with the second maximum. 
Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan, who became the oldest Bangladeshi to play a Test when he stepped onto the field today aged 37 years and 181 days, has yet to get into action. 
Gill and Pant added 62 runs for an unbroken fourth-wicket stand as the Tigers kept on looking for a breakthrough to halt the hosts’ momentum.