Ebadot, Shanto lead Bangladesh into ascendancy

Bangladesh 382 and 134 for 1 (Shanto 54*, Zakir 54*, Hamza 1-27) lead Afghanistan 146 (Zazai 36, Jamal 35, Ebadot 4-47) by 370 runs

Bangladesh overcame an early morning hiccup to sit on a 370-run lead at the end of the second day of the Dhaka Test against Afghanistan. On a 16-wicket day, the home side sped to 134 for 1 in 23 overs at stumps, having bowled out the visitors for 146. Bangladesh had earlier been bowled out for 382, losing their last five wickets for nine runs.

The day’s honours would go to two fast bowlers. Nijat Masood took 5-79 in Bangladesh’s first innings. He became the second Afghanistan bowler to take a five-for on Test debut. Ebadot Hossain’s 4-47 was his best figures at home, but he missed out on a five-for after the Bangladesh spinners took the last three Afghanistan wickets.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan were the unbeaten batters at stumps, having both made 54 off 64 balls each. Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who made a half-century in the first innings, fell for 17, after which Shanto and Zakir added 116 runs for the unbroken second-wicket stand. Both reached their fifties with boundaries off successive balls.

Shanto took off in the second innings from where he left off in the first dig. Masood dropped him off his own bowling when the left-hander was on nine. Shanto shook it off to drive freely, while Zakir used the pull shot to good effect.

Bangladesh batters were able to play this freely mainly because of how their bowlers fared in the afternoon. Ebadot used the extra bounce on the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch to pick up four wickets. He had the short delivery rearing at Abdul Malik’s gloves, who handed a catch to Zakir at third slip. Rahmat Shah was caught in two minds, switching between the pull and the flick, before miscuing the ball to Taskin Ahmed at mid-on.

Ebadot used his bounce again to get rid of Afsar Zazai, who top-edged a pull and got caught at deep square leg for 36. It was the short ball again that served Ebadot well when he had Amir Hamza caught at short leg.

Shoriful Islam had a good outing too, taking the wickets of Ibrahim Zadran and captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, either side of the lunch break. Zadran was caught behind, while Shahidi edged to Mehidy Hasan Miraz at fourth slip.

Mehidy and Taijul Islam also took two wickets each, mopping up Afghanistan’s lower half. Mehidy broke the 65-run stand between Zazai and Nasir Jamal by trapping the latter lbw for 35. Mehidy completed his 150th wicket in Tests when he had Karim Janat stumped for 23. The innings ended with Bangladesh gaining a 236-run lead and they chose to bat again.

Earlier in the morning, the home side were bowled out for 382 runs within 45 minutes of the start of play. They collapsed from 373 for 5 in just 4.5 overs and added 20 runs to their overnight total.

Mehidy and Mushfiqur Rahim, who had added 83 runs for the sixth wicket, fell within six balls of each other. Yamin Ahmadzai had Mehidy caught at gully while Masood had Mushfiqur fending a short ball to third slip. Both got out in the forties. Masood removed Taijul who popped a catch to short leg before completing his five-for by uprooting Shoriful’s off-stump.

Source: ESPNcricinfo