Photo: Collected
Bangladesh crossed a hundred in the opening partnership itself in the one-off Test against Afghanistan, but Tanzid Hasan did not get his century. He returned to the dressing room after scoring 83 off 71 balls. Afghan wicketkeeper Ikram brilliantly held the catch he gave behind the wicket off Ismat Alam’s bowling. Mominul Haque has come to the crease after Tanzid’s departure.
Earlier on Friday, Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat. The Tigers’ opening partnership was broken at 129. At the time of writing this report, Bangladesh’s score was 133 runs for the loss of one wicket in 25 overs and four balls.
The match began at 12 noon Bangladesh time at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Bangladesh have been having a good time in Test cricket recently. Just last August came an unforgettable success in the country’s Test history: Najmul Hossain Shanto and his men had stunned the world by going to Australia and beating Australia. This time the challenge before the Tigers is Afghanistan. The two teams have faced each other twice in Tests, with one win each; in other words, the tally is level. Now it is time to break that parity.
Not only is there a chance of a series win before Bangladesh, there is also a personal milestone before captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. If this match is won, his number of wins as Test captain will stand at 10.
Shanto wants to take confidence from that success against Australia, but he is not willing to dwell on past results. He sees this match against Afghanistan as a completely new challenge.
At the pre-match press conference, Shanto said, ‘We had a good series against Australia. But that is now in the past. This is a new condition, a new opponent. So we too have to plan accordingly.’
Bangladesh XI
Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (wicketkeeper), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Taijul Islam and Ebadot Hossain.
Afghanistan XI
Abdul Malik, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah (captain), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ikram Alikhil (wicketkeeper), Zia-ur-Rehman, Shahidullah Kamal, Yamin Ahmadzai, Qais Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi and Ismat Alam.
