In addition to the assistance of Najmul Hossain Shanto’s
third Test century and Mahmudul Joy’s 76, Bangladesh took an early lead in the
one-off Test against Afghanistan. Bangladesh scored 235/2 by Tea on the first
day of play.
Shanto led the charge, attacking the opposition from the
start as he raced to a half-century off 58 balls in the morning session and a
century off 118 balls just before the refreshments break in the afternoon. Joy
played the ideal supporting role, taking his time to adjust to the
uncharacteristically verdant Dhaka pitch before releasing his limbs more
frequently and ruthlessly punishing the loose ones on his way to his third Test
fifty. The lack of discipline displayed by Afghanistan’s bowlers, who delivered
10 no-balls and 21 extras over the course of the two sessions, also aided their
cause.
Bangladesh were scoring at nearly 4.5
runs per over, reaching their century in just 20.1
overs, and Shanto was largely responsible for their aggressive start. The
southpaw sent Afghanistan’s bowlers on a search for leather and dispatched the
numerous loose deliveries to all areas of the ground. The only time the duo
eased down during the second session was as they approached their respective
milestones. Joy’s fifty came first, and in a rather farcical manner, as the
batting duo ran five due to two misfields by Afghanistan.
Shanto, meanwhile, survived an LBW threat on 98 and
eventually reached triple figures after the refreshments break before bringing
Bangladesh’s total to 200 by smashing a freebie full-toss from Rahmat Shah over
the deep square leg boundary. In the subsequent round, Joy raised the 200 of
their partnership.
The tumultuous 45th over saw the much-needed breakthrough as
Joy clumsily attempted a late cut against Rahmat only to edge it to first slip.
As a result, Afghanistan became greedy and burned a review on an LBW appeal
against Mominul Haque that was missing stumps, ending the 212-run second-wicket
partnership. The replays showed it would have in fact touched the top of
Mominul’s leg-stump, but the visitors decided not to examine another appeal
later in the same over. In the afternoon session, the hosts added 119 to their
total thanks to him surviving to knock a four and a six off the spinner.
After an early setback, Bangladesh’s second-wicket tandem had
already amassed a century in the morning session. Nijat Masood, one of the two
Afghanistan debutants, struck with his first ball in Test cricket when he had
Zakir Hasan straining at an angled delivery and slipping it behind. Masood had
to halt his celebrations to request a review after the on-field umpire denied
his initial request. Aside from this, Afghanistan had little to celebrate for
the remaining two sessions. The bowlers labored with their lengths, and the
second-wicket duo of Bangladesh made merry.
Brief scores: Bangladesh
235/2 (Najmul Hosain Shanto 126*, Mahmudul Joy 76; Rahmat Shah 1-26) vs
Afghanistan
