Najmul Hossain Shanto continued his rich vein of form as he brought up his second century in the match to put Bangladesh in a position from where they could sniff a victory in the one-off Test against Afghanistan.
By doing so, Shanto became only Bangladeshi batter to hit century on both
innings of a Test after Mominul Haque who achieved the feat against Sri Lanka
in 2018.
Incidentally, Mominul was in the crease when Shanto touched the milestone.
Thanks to Shanto, Bangladesh extended its lead to 491 runs, after reaching
255-2 at lunch on day three of the Test at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket
Stadium today.
At the first interval of the day, Shanto who scored 146 runs in the first
innings, was batting on 112 with Mominul Haque on 43.
Opener Zakir Hasan scored 71 off 95 with eight fours before perishing while
going for a third run. That was the only success of Afghanistan after
Bangladesh resumed the day on 134-1.
Afghanistan bowling attack looked clueless, failing to create any chance
throughout the morning session. Both of the Bangladesh batters got enough loose deliveries to punish it with ease.
Zakir also appeared to head toward a century until his ambition to take the
third run cost his wicket which broke the 173-run second wicket partnership.
After playing in one-day style, Najmul completed his fourth test century off
115 balls, nudging occasional bowler Hashmatullah Shahidi behind square for a
single.
Mominul Haque also appeared to be untroubled as the duo continued to pile on
the runs. Bangladesh put up 382 in its first innings before dismissing Afghanistan for
146. It, however, chose to bat first instead of enforcing follow-on.
