Innings win for India A after visitors capitulate

Bangladesh A's meek capitulation continued on the final day of their tour as they took only 28.3 overs on the third morning to lose their last eight wickets. They began the day needing 147 to make India A bat again, but never threatened to do so. Only captain Mominul Haque resisted with a stroke-filled half-century, but he too fell in a soft manner, lobbing offspinner Jayant Yadav to extra cover. The visitors ended the tour with one one-day win against India A, but lost everything else: two other one-dayers to India A and a three-day game to Ranji champions Karnataka.

On the first two days, Bangladesh batsmen - Sabbir Rahman and Anamul Haque - have insisted this is a flat pitch, a fact that bears testimony in 411 for 5 plundered by India A quite effortlessly, but the Bangladesh batsmen have failed to show the patience and shot selection required at first-class level. Anamul even suggested that the Bangladesh batsmen don't play much cricket of the longer variety, which is why they were struggling to bat judiciously.

On the third morning, in the first exchanges, Mominul and wicketkeeper Liton Das prevailed but did so playing their shots. Varun Aaron's four-over spell cost India 24 runs, the 50-run stand came up for the third wicket, but it didn't last too long. Ishwar Pandey came on and dealt the knockout blow in his first over of the day. To the right-hand Das, Pandey bowled from round the wicket and somehow managed to hit the top of off. The batsman had simply failed to cover the line of a shortish ball pitched outside leg. Later in the over Sabbir was given out lbw, but he didn't look happy with the decision, pointing at his bat while slowly walking off.

From the other end Abhimanyu Mithun became the beneficiary of a defensive shot from Nasir Hossain that rolled back on to his off stump. Soon he saw Shuvagata Hom flirt with a wide ball, and give gully a safe catch. Mominul kept playing his shots, some of them quite attractive, but when he went hard at a Jayant offbreak, from around the leg stump, all he managed was a mis-hit to extra cover. After that it was only a matter of time, especially with the injured Rubel Hossain not available to bat.

After the game, Mominul rued his team's approach towards long-form cricket. "Our team... most of the guys are ODI players," Mominul said. "One-day and Test is a lot different. That is the main problem. We played these as ODI matches. We went chasing the ball too early in the innings."