Bangladesh 317 for 8 (Tanzid 83, Shadman 67, Saleem 3-70) vs Afghanistan
Saleem targeted the shorter length after lunch, while Ahmadzai found success pitching the ball fuller. Ismat, meanwhile, bowled within himself and was rewarded with the wickets of both set batters Tanzid and Mehidy Hasan Miraz as he drew errors from each.
Tanzid was Bangladesh’s enforcer earlier in the day, hitting eight fours and four sixes in his 71-ball 83 in the first session. He looked set to get to a century in the first session, only for Ismat to thwart his charge.
Later, Shadman Islam and Litton Das struck fifties on either side of Bangladesh’s mini collapse. They lost three wickets for just four runs after they were 221 for two in the second session.
Litton and Mehidy added 62 runs for the sixth wicket after the collapse. Mehidy was quite conservative in his approach, hitting just one four in his 24 off 67 balls.
Litton’s return to runs was the bigger news, after he scored ducks in his last three Test innings in Australia. He made 53 off 89 balls, with four boundaries, before Ahmadzai took a diving catch near the fine-leg boundary just before the new ball was due. Later in the same over, Saleem removed Hasan Mahmud with a yorker.
Tanzid was dominant in the first session, adding 124 runs for the opening stand with the more subdued Shadman Islam.
Amid a flurry of glorious shots, Tanzid will rue playing one more extravagant punch. Ismat Alam had him caught behind, leaving him just short of Tamim Iqbal’s record for the most runs by a Bangladesh batter in a Test’s first session. Tamim made 86 against New Zealand in the Hamilton Test in 2019.
Tanzid used his feet superbly, repeatedly taking the fast bowlers over the off side. The most notable of those shots was the slice over point and the blazing six over extra cover against Ahmadzai. He smashed spinners Zia-ur-Rehman and Hashmatullah Shahidi for three sixes down the ground, apart from playing several drives during his stay.
Shadman meanwhile opened up in the second session, during his 60-run second-wicket stand with Mominul Haque. He reached his ninth Test fifty, but couldn’t contain himself against Mohammad Saleem’s short deliveries, out caught at square-leg for 67 off 111 balls. Ahmadzai then removed Mominul for 39.
Ahmadzai followed that up with a yorker that took out Mushfiqur Rahim for a duck, before captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, having struck the ball so cleanly so far, edged Qais Ahmed for 29.
Mohammad Isam is Cricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
