Najmul, Mushfiqur push Bangladesh's lead after Mahmud hattrick
Hasan Mahmud became the first Bangladesh bowler to pick a hattrick as his team pushed the lead past 300
The effect of Afghanistan captain Rahmat Shah’s century was quickly diluted as Bangladesh took a firm hold over the Abu Dhabi Test on Day 3. A lower-order collapse was led by a Hasan Mahmud hat-trick, as Bangladesh carved out a 106-run first-innings lead.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul Hossain Shanto then put on a resilient 159-run partnership in extremely hot conditions, stretching their lead past 300.
Afghanistan began the day on 211/4, but a variable surface, and the second new ball, welcomed them early. Ibrahim Alikhil, who had laboured for 102 balls, was sucked into a stroke by Ebadot Hossain. The very next over, the new cherry was used with devastating effect by Mahmud, who first took out Ismat Alam’s stumps, and then induced two edges to snatch a hat-trick. It made him the first Bangladesh seamer to achieve the feat in Test cricket.
Suddenly out of partners, Rahmat continued to patiently hold one end. Mahmud then took another, becoming the fastest Bangladesh quick to 50 Test wickets, also completing his fourth five-wicket haul.
With no support around, Rahmat smashed Mahmud for an inside-out six and then hit a four to reach his fourth Test hundred. He hit another four to make it a 14-run over, a little flicker before the innings folded. From 219/4, Afghanistan were all out for 240.
Armed with a sizeable lead, Bangladesh began positively: Tanzid Hasan Tamim cracked four boundaries in a single Yamin Ahmadzai over, using his feet to go hard against the new ball. Mohammad Safi, keeping it quieter from the other end, took out Shadman Islam with a short ball. A mistimed pull reached deep square-leg, seemingly placed for exactly that stroke.
The early excitement trailed off when Ahmadzai’s late swing forced Mominul Haque to edge to slips. Still, at Lunch, Bangladesh had the upper hand.
Rahim, a master of attritional batting, couldn’t really be challenged as his stoic defence kept them at bay. There was a brief phase when spin was introduced that Rahim batted quickly, racing from 28 off 41 to 41 off 51, before settling down again. An attempt to lap-sweep Zia-ur-Rehman later saw him being deemed lbw, but replays showed a part of the bat was in play too.
Shanto had an escape when an outside edge dropped just short of first slip. He was more disengaged among the two, reaching his fifty in 135 balls, having hit just three fours from those. Afghanistan’s frontline spinners did not really keep their lengths consistent, allowing the two to move around their crease freely.
Towards the end of the day, Afghanistan finally found some reasons to celebrate. Rahim departed trying to work the ball on the leg-side, sending a top-edge to slip. A magical ball by Qais showed how the pitch had worn out, gaining sharp turn from way outside off to castle Shanto. Nightwatch Mahmud also departed right after. But the lead had grown significantly by then.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 346 & 223/6 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 82, Mushfiqur Rahim 81; Yamin Ahmadzai 2-42, Qaid Ahmad 1-36) lead Afghanistan 240 (Rahmat Shah 101, Abdul Malik 62; Hasan Mahmud 5-55, Ebadot Hossain 4-56) by 329 runs.
