Although their innings had created the potential for far more favorable circumstances, Bangladesh were in a strong position at the end of the first day of the one-off Test against Afghanistan yesterday.
This was after centurion Najmul Hossain Shanto and opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy did the heavy lifting at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
After Afghanistan had decided to bowl in the hopes that the greenish surface would get the new ball talking, it did turn out to be a good thing for Liton Das to lose the toss, as it turned out to be. With his very first delivery in Test cricket, Afghanistan’s rookie bowler Nijatullah Masood got one to form away from teenager Zakir Hasan. This was followed by wild protests and celebrations, which were, however, refused by the umpire. Afghanistan conducted a thorough assessment promptly and successfully eliminated their opponent when replays revealed the ball had a very little edge to the outside.
On the first day of the match, Afghanistan may have anticipated that the circumstances would be more favorable for bowlers; instead, they lacked discipline.
Shanto’s fast hit was bold right from the start, which was surprising given that the visitors were anticipated to pose a greater danger with the new ball. Two drives in the third over demonstrated his assurance and fluidity, and he reached 64 runs by hitting 11 fours in the first session alone on his route to scoring those runs.
On the other side, Afghanistan’s bowlers showed their lack of expertise in the longest format by having difficulty maintaining line and length throughout the match. They either bowled too fat or too short, and most of the time they left a lot of gap between their pins. As a consequence of this, boundaries were hit regularly, and the Shanto-Joy combo made certain that Bangladesh reached lunch at 116 for one after just 24 overs, scoring at a rate of 4.83 runs per over. The duo that had scored 100 runs had done so off 126 deliveries.
During the second meeting, the Afghan assault exerted even more effort. They bowled rather poorly, as seen by the number of no-balls and overthrows they had. On that particular day, left-arm wrist spinner Zahir Khan was responsible for eight no-balls on his own.
In the meanwhile, Shanto found himself encountering the borders with increasing regularity. Shanto’s knock was characterized by magnificent drives and hand speed that came in to pull anything short. He achieved his first century on Bangladeshi territory and his third Test century off of only 118 deliveries.
At the opposite end, Joy also increased his level of self-assurance, but because to a momentary break in focus, he ended in directing Rahmat Shah to the slip cordon and sending him off to 76.
This partnership resulted in 212 runs, which is Bangladesh’s second-highest score for a second-wicket stand in Tests. As spinners gained more purchase, Mominul Haque seemed to be having difficulty early on and did not appear to be particularly comfortable. After tea, the former captain of the Test team edged a short ball from Masood down the leg side, and he was out for 15 runs.
Shanto kept going with his free-flowing knock and was lucky when he was bowled by a no-ball by Masood. However, he ultimately lost his wicket to Amir Hamza after a 176-ball 146 and holed out at deep mid-wicket.
Afghanistan had their most successful session in the third session, when they bowled Liton Das out after he had scored 9 runs. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehedi Hasan Miraz made sure it was the hosts’ day by putting together an unbroken 72-run partnership that brought Bangladesh’s score to 362 for five and set them up for a large first innings total on Day Two. There was some concern within the Bangladesh ranks, but these two players made sure it was the hosts’ day.