Tigers staring at defeat
It would require a miracle or some intervention from nature for Bangladesh to even have a chance of saving the one-off Test match against new Test-playing nation Afghanistan, who have already laid the platform from which to post a huge target. The hosts may be lucky however, as forecasts suggest high chances of rain in Chattogram over the next two days.
The home side’s bowlers again disappointed with their performances and by the end of the third day, Afghanistan had reached 237 for eight, riding on Ibrahim Zadran’s patient 87. The visitors are eying a historic Test win and are leading by 374 runs, courtesy of their vital first innings lead of 137 runs.
It will certainly require something special from the Tigers, who have never won a Test match chasing more than 215 in the second innings. To make matters grimmer, no team has won a match chasing more 317 runs at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
The Afghans appear to be aware of that and the visiting team management have reportedly asked the Bangladesh Cricket Board for a weather forecast from the local met office.
Bangladesh started on a positive note as skipper Shakib Al Hasan removed opener Ihsanullah for four before getting rid of first innings centurion Rahmat Shah for a golden duck in the very first over.
Youngster Nayeem Hasan removed Hashmatullah Shahidi in the 15th over to leave the visitors struggling on 28 for 3 and it looked like the Tigers might be able to make turn the game around.
But Ibrahim and Asghar Afghan’s 120-run fourth-wicket stand snatched the impetus from the hosts.
The Afghan batters once again displayed better application and more patience when compared to the hosts, as both Ibrahim and Asghar took their time and charged the Tigers bowlers only when a loose ball was offered.
The body language of the Bangladeshi cricketers also looked poor and he bowlers kept throwing down loose deliveries, which is something new head coach Russell Domingo will want to rectify.
17-year-old Ibrahim, who was eying a Test hundred on his Test debut, was dismissed by Nayeem for a 208-ball 87 which featured six fours and four sixes while Afghan added a valuable fifty on the back of his 92-run knock in the first innings.
Earlier, things went awry for Bangladesh at the start of the day as they could add just 11 runs to their overnight total of 194 for 8 before being bundled out.
Taijul Islam was dismissed after scoring 14 while Nayeem added seven runs before being removed by Rashid Khan, who completed a second five-wicket haul in Tests. Mosaddek Hossain remained unbeaten on 48 as the visitors started to sense something remarkable in the works in just their third Test match.
As the umpires were forced to call off play due to bad light, the fourth days’ play will begin 20 minutes early, at 9:40am instead of 10:00am.
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