Home
Bangladesh ran all over Afghanistan in their one-off Test match in Mirpur, finishing the match in the first session on Day 4. They beat their opponents by a massive 546 runs after Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam shared seven wickets between themselves to restrict the team to a measly 115 runs in the second innings.
This loss is the third-biggest for a Test team in terms of runs. The last time a team lost by more than 500 runs was way back in 1934 when Australia beat England by 562 runs. This is also the biggest victory for an Asian team in terms of runs, a major achievement for Bangladesh.
The Bengal Tigers declared at 425/4 on Day 3, setting a daunting target of 662 for Afghanistan. Ibrahim Zadran fell on the first ball of the final innings of the Test, and Abdul Malik went in the second over, off Shoriful and Taskin's bowling respectively. Rahmat Shah came into the game with Afghanistan in a precarious situation and finished as the player with the most runs for Afghanistan in the second innings.
This was despite the injury to skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi. Since then, it was a complete landslide. Afghanistan were 45/2 at the end of Day 3 but then lost eight wickets for 70 runs, effectively ending any chances of a victory.
Earlier on Day 3, Najmul Hossain Shanto got to his second Test century of the match. He became just the second Bangladesh batter to score a century in both innings of a Test. In 2018, Mominul Haque hit two centuries against Sri Lanka and became the first Bangladesh batter to do the same.
While Shanto scored 124 runs from 151 deliveries including 15 fours, Haque remained unbeaten for 121 off 145 deliveries including 12 fours and one six on Day 3. His unbeaten 143-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Litton Das helped Bangladesh post 425/4 from 80 overs before declaring. Das remained unbeaten for 66 off 81 balls including eight fours.
In the first innings, Bangladesh rode on Shanto's exceptional 146 off 175 to post a total of 382 despite Nijat Masood's five-wicket haul. In reply, Afghanistani batters fell like a house of cards and were bundled out for a paltry 146, thanks to Ebadot Hossain.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK
