Shanto Patient Ton Leads Bangladesh Domination

Bad light forces the session to end. The day belongs to Najmul Hossain Shanto who walks off to a standing ovation from the dressing room. The captain led from the front to score an unbeaten 104 off 193 balls to leave Bangladesh at a comfortable 212 for 3. Lead is now 205 runs. And his partner Mushfiqur Rahim stands in 43.

Before this, Skipper Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque put together a partnership for the third wicket to build the Bangladesh lead in the second session of the third day of their first Test against New Zealand in Sylhet after losing two quick wickets early in the session.

Bangladesh were on 111-2 at the tea break, with Shanto unbeaten on 48 off 92 balls, alongside Mominul unbeaten on 38 off 60 balls.

The Tigers lost both their openers, Zakir Hasan and Mahmudul Hasan Joy in the opening hour of the second session.

Earlier, Bangladesh scored 310 in their first innings before New Zealand posted 317 in theirs, which ended in the morning of the third day.

Bangladesh started the second session on 19-0 but their openers could not last long as they were both gone within a span of 12 deliveries.

First, Ajaz Patel once again got Zakir as the left-handed batter, similar to his first innings dismissal, went on the backfoot but missed the sharply turning delivery, leading to him getting trapped LBW for 17.

In the next over, Joy was unlucky to lose his wicket at the non-striker’s end as bowler Tim Southee got his fingers on a straight drive from Shanto, which hit the stumps and the opener fell just short to return to the pavilion for eight off 46 deliveries.

However, from there on, Shanto and Mominul put a stop to the slide as Bangladesh built their lead.

Mominul survived a review appeal in the 19th over against Patel when he did not offer a shot to a delivery that turned sharply towards him. Umpire Ahsan Raza was unmoved, and a review from the Blackcaps showed that the ball was missing the stumps.

The duo reached their fifty partnership off just 62 balls as they took the attack to the New Zealand bowlers early on, and once they got in, they decided to be more cautious, especially with off-spinner Glenn Phillips, who picked up four wickets in the first innings and is a favourable matchup to two left-handers, in the attack.

Their partnership was on 85 runs off 144 balls at tea.

Earlier, New Zealand were bowled out for 317 in their first innings, which gave them a seven-run lead, which was quickly wiped out by the Tigers in the second innings.

Mominul Haque picked up both the New Zealand wickets this morning, finishing on three wickets for four runs, his best bowling figures in Test cricket. Taijul Islam picked up four wickets, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, and Nayeem Hasan picked up one each.

Bangladesh started the day with the hopes of getting a first-innings lead as New Zealand were on 266-8, with Tim Southee (35) and Kyle Jamieson (23) at the crease.

However, that hope was soon extinguished by the Blackcaps duo as they settled in and comfortably ticked the scoreboard forward as the Bangladesh bowlers could not find a way through.

Bangladesh skipper Nazmul Hossain Shanto kept Taijull at one end and changed between Mehidy, Shoriful, and Nayeem at the other but none of the changes provided any results as the ninth wicket partnership reached 50 off 103 balls.

However, things changed following the drinks break after the first hour was completed. It was once again Mominul with the golden arm as he first trapped Jamieson LBW before castling Southee to end the New Zealand innings on 317.