CHITTAGONG: Gautam Gambhir closed in on a rapid half-century as India raced to 122-1 in their second innings at stumps on the third day of the opening Test against Bangladesh here today.

The opener (47 not out) added 90 for the opening wicket with stand-in captain Virender Sehwag (45) after India had narrowly avoided conceding the lead to Bangladesh for the first time in six Tests. Bangladesh were bowled out for 242 in their first innings shortly after tea in reply to India’s 243.

India got off to a strong start, with left-handed Gambhir and Sehwag dominating the Bangladeshi attack with attractive shots during their 17-over partnership. Sehwag fell just three balls after hitting a straight six off left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan, caught by Raqibul Hasan at square-leg while attempting another big shot. Nightwatchman Amit Mishra was unbeaten with a 21-ball 24 when play was called off due to bad light.

Bangladesh’s Mohammad Mahmudullah earlier hit an impressive 69 for his maiden half-century. He put on 108 for the seventh wicket with Mushfiqur Rahim (44) to raise his team’s hopes of gaining the lead. The hosts were tottering at 98-6 before being revived by Mahmudullah and Rahim, but three late wickets by Indian leg-spinner Mishra saw them concede the lead.

Bangladesh failed to cope with India’s pace in the morning, when they lost three wickets in the space of 30 runs, but Mahmudullah and Rahim denied the visitors success for more than two hours with their sensible knocks. The duo applied themselves remarkably well, patiently waiting for loose deliveries. Mahmudullah played some handsome shots in his 108-ball knock before being caught behind off paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.

Wicketkeeper Rahim had been batting confidently before he fell to a loose shot, caught by Sehwag at mid-wicket while attempting to hit Mishra against

the turn. Rahim struck six fours in his 104-ball knock. Mishra and left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan finished with three wickets each, while seamers Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth grabbed two apiece.

India looked set to gain a sizeable lead in the morning session when Zaheer, Sharma and Sreesanth struck in quick succession. Bangladesh added nine runs to their overnight total of

59-3 when Sharma had former captain Mohammad Ashraful (two) caught in

the slips by Rahul Dravid. Home skipper Shakib Al Hasan started aggressively, hitting four boundaries in his 17 before being caught by Sehwag, who timed his jump to perfection at

gully. Raqibul Hasan (17) was the third batsman to fall in the first session, edging a lifting delivery from Sreesanth to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik.

Play was delayed for the third successive day due to dense fog which had restricted play to 63 of the stipulated 90 overs on the first day and just 24.5 overs on the second day. The second and final Test will start in Dhaka on January 24.