Bangladesh continued their dominance on the second day of the Chittagong Test after the late afternoon of the first day. The hosts got off to a great start after Taijul’s whirlwind spell. After a long wait, opener Shadman Islam scored a century. Thanks to his excellent batting, Bangladesh took the lead at the beginning of the third session.
In the 63rd over, Mushfiqur Rahim gave the team the lead by hitting a four off Brian Bennett. As of writing this report, Bangladesh have accumulated 235 runs for 3 wickets.
Nazmul Hossain Shanto is playing for 14 runs off 33 balls. Mushfiqur scored 22 runs off 29 balls. The lead has increased to 8 runs. There are still 7 wickets in hand. The home team is getting a chance to increase the lead even further.
Earlier, Zimbabwe started the second day with 9 wickets for 227 runs. That was where their journey ended. Taijul had completed his fiver the previous day. He took his 6th wicket on the second day. Mujarabani took a catch behind the wicket after poking the ball outside off.
The main reason for Bangladesh’s failure in recent times has been shaky batting. However, today the two openers gave some relief. Experienced Enamul Haque Bijoy was called up to the team midway through the series. This batter was brought in to open with Sadman.
Together, the two did not let any wicket fall in the first session. They put on a 118-run partnership off 189 balls. This is the first time since 2022 that Bangladesh has crossed 100 in an opening partnership. Although Bijoy had to return before his personal fifty.
Enamul could not play the ball slightly outside the off-stump of Mujarabani properly. The ball went and hit his back leg. The umpire responded when the LBW appeal was made. Later, the review did not save the day. After three years, Bijoy returned to the Test team and was out for 39 runs. This is the best innings of Bijoy’s career, who did not get the opportunity to play many Tests. Even in two innings in a match, Bijoy had never scored 30 runs before.
From the beginning, the two Bangladesh openers did not have to suffer much in front of the Zimbabwe bowling attack. Sadman Islam got a fifty before lunch. He was fluent from the beginning. The boundaries were coming at regular intervals. Finally, he got a century off 142 balls. This was the second century of his career. The first century was also against Zimbabwe. That was in Harare in July 2021.
Sadman and Mominul’s partnership was also building. The two made a 76-run partnership. However, Bangladesh lost two batters in two consecutive overs. Just before the tea break, Mominul returned after playing an unnecessary slug sweep short off Masakadja. 33 runs came from his bat. Ryan Bennett lbw centurion Sadman with the first ball of the next over.
Sadman scored 120 runs off 181 balls with 16 fours and a six. This is his personal best in Tests. The previous best was 115 not out against Zimbabwe in 2021.