Debutant Suthar stars as India declare dominance with 564/8, Afghanistan reeling at stumps

New Chandigarh: India continued their dominance in the one-off Test against Afghanistan - declaring at 564/8 in 126 overs and then reduced the visitors to 113/5 at stumps on day two’s play. For India, debutant left-arm spinner Manav Suthar emerged as the standout performer to pick 3-21 in 15.5 overs, as Afghanistan still trail by 451 runs.

On a scorching Sunday, India’s innings was built on skipper and local lad Shubman Gill’s authoritative 126, KL Rahul’s century, Sai Sudharsan’s 81 and Rishabh Pant’s 81 earlier in the day. But the lower-order contributions ensured the hosts had a healthy run-rate of 4.44 and also placed the innings among India’s fourth fastest 500-plus totals in Test history.

The hosts declared after Washington Sundar hit a composed 52 not out, his sixth Test fifty, while Suthar hit two sixes and as many fours to get India past 500 and Mohammed Siraj produced an entertaining cameo of 22 off 12 balls. Captain Shubman Gill declared soon after Sundar reached his fifty, giving his bowlers two full sessions to put Afghanistan under the pump.

Afghanistan’s reply faltered almost immediately. Abdul Malik attempted to counterattack but was undone by Suthar’s sharp turn – on a sweep, he gave a top-edge to backward square leg. After the tea break was over, Prasidh Krishna produced a lovely nip-backer to uproot Sediqullah Atal’s stumps.

Suthar, operating with remarkable control and brisk pace, bowled maiden after maiden to keep the batters on a lid. His accuracy was rewarded again when Rahmanullah Gurbaz nicked to slip, where sharp catch was taken.

Rahmat Shah provided the only semblance of stability for Afghanistan, reaching 43 not out by stumps and becoming the first Afghanistan player to cross 1000 Test runs. Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav also kept the pressure on, ensuring Afghanistan never found rhythm.

His 36-run partnership with Hashmatullah Shahidi briefly steadied the innings. But Prasidh struck again to trap Shahidi lbw, leaving the visitors in deeper trouble. Afsar Zazai’s resistance ended in dramatic fashion as he closed the bat face too early and offered a simple return catch to Suthar, who ended his first day of bowling in Test cricket on a high. Afghanistan, meanwhile, now face a daunting task to avoid follow-on.

In the morning, Gill, resuming from overnight score of 103 not out with authority, extended his innings to a commanding 126 off 177 balls before falling to Mohammad Saleem Safi, who bowled a fiery and disciplined spell with pace and movement with the second new ball.

Pant, who looked equally assured, mixed caution with aggression to reach 81 off 121 balls, apart from sharing a 169-run stand with Gill. But his dismissal to skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi, who also got his first Test wicket, mirrored Sai Sudharsan’s fate from the previous day - both left-handers falling short of centuries after hitting promising fifties. IANS

Scoreboard  

India: 1st innings (overnight 368-3)

Shubman Gill  c Zazai b Safi          126

Rishabh Pant  c Omarzai b Shahidi               81

Dhruv Jurel     b Safi                     19           

Washington Sundar        not out     52

Manav Suthar c Zazai b Safi          28           

Mohammed Siraj            b Safi      22           

Kuldeep Yadav              not out                    9                           

Extras: 22; Total:           564-8 dec (127)

FOW: Rahul (247-3, 60.2), Gill (416-4, 95.5), Jurel (452-5, 101.5), Pant (456-6, 102.4), Suthar (510-7, 116.5), Siraj (540-8, 120.4)

Bowling

Ziaur Rahman Sharifi     24            2             91            1

Azmatullah Omarzai       22            5             67            0

Mohammad Saleem Safi 27            3             140          6

Nangeyalia Kharote        23            0             115          0                  Abdul Malik                       7             0             43            0                 Hashmatullah Shahidi         24            1             91            1

Afghanistan: 1st innings

Abdul Malik     c Siraj b Suthar                       16

Sediqullah Atal               b Krishna                               17           

R Gurbazc Sudharsan b Suthar                     12

Rahmat Shah  not out                                   43

*Hashmatullah Shahidi   lbw b Krishna          20

Afsar Zazai     c and b Suthar                        3

Extras: 2 ; Total:                                 113-5 (39.5)

FOW:Abdul Malik (28-1, 5.4), Sediqullah Atal (40-2, 8.4), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (62-3, 19.2), *Hashmatullah Shahidi (98-4, 32.2), Afsar Zazai (113-5, 39.5)

Bowling

Mohammed Siraj   6             1             24            0

Prasidh Krishna     7             0             27            2

Manav Suthar       15.5         7             21            3

Kuldeep Yadav     7             0             29            0

Washington Sundar              4             0             12            0

Indians to take a wicket in their first over in Tests:

Player                    Opponent        Year

Montu Banerjee                  West Indies     1948

Manohar Hardikar   West Indies  1958

Vaman Kumar      Pakistan          1961

Chetan Sharma                  Pakistan          1984

WV Raman           West Indies     1988

Nilesh Kulkarni     Sri Lanka         1997

Tinu Yohannan     England          2001

Manav Suthar      Afghanistan     2026

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