Bangladesh’s charge towards a mammoth victory against Afghanistan in the one-off Test match continued on day three as they made a loud statement in Dhaka on Friday. They set a target of 662 and went on to nudge two early breakthroughs before Afghanistan Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi retired hurt due to injury. Bangladesh managed to score over 400 runs, including two tons from Najmul Hossain and Mominul Haque, who also helped himself to a century, breaking his lean patch in the longest format.
The visitors had a forgettable day, a mentally fatigued bowling attack and match situation that enabled Bangladesh batters to pile on the runs. The late declaration from Bangladesh worked well as their visitors lost their openers due to the new ball. Ibrahim Zadran had another failure, and subsequently, Taskin Ahmed got rid of Abdul Malik, leaving Afghanistan struggling. The situation became more daunting when Hashmatullah Shahidi got hit on the head by a Taskin bumper. The writing seems to be on the wall as there are two full days left of the match.
Bangladesh scored a brilliant 425/4 decl., having set a target of 662, and now leads by 616 runs. After a point, the lead number was irrelevant as Bangladesh opted to exploit the match situation and boost their stats, completely grinding Afghanistan to dust. The declaration late during the day’s play worked in favor of Bangladesh, causing a slump for Afghanistan.
The match is now firmly in Bangladesh’s hands, and it will take an exceptional effort from Afghanistan to salvage anything. With two full days left, it seems unlikely that Afghanistan will be able to overcome the mammoth lead by Bangladesh, especially with their current slump.
In summary, Bangladesh has put on a solid display, with two batsmen scoring centuries while Afghanistan has had a forgettable day. Bangladesh’s late declaration worked wonders, and they now hold all the aces in this one-off Test match. Afghanistan has a monumental task ahead of them, as they try to avoid a loss that seems inevitable at this point.
