Bangladesh continued their dominant performance on day two of their lone Test match against Afghanistan at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. The Tigers finished the day in a commanding position, just as they had on day one.

At stumps on Thursday, Bangladesh had scored 134 runs in their second innings, with opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy (17) being the only wicket to fall. Zakir Hasan and Nazmul Hossain Shanto, the other two openers, remained unbeaten on identical scores of 54, reaching their second and fourth Test fifties respectively.

With a lead of 370 runs, the home side held the advantage in the match.

Earlier in the day, Afghanistan was bowled out for a mere 146 runs due to disciplined bowling by the Bangladeshi team, led by right-arm pacer Ebadot Hossain (4/47). Left-arm paceman Shoriful Islam, and spinners Taijul Islam and Mehedi Hasan Miraz, all claimed two wickets each.

Bangladesh had started day two at 362/5 but could only add 20 more runs to their total before losing their remaining five wickets. Mushfiqur Rahim (47) and Miraz (48) fell short of their respective half-centuries.

Debutant right-arm bowler Nijat Masood finished with impressive figures of 5/79.

In the second innings of the first Test against India ‘A’, he played brilliant innings of 173 runs. Apart from this, he also got runs in the second Test. The reward for such a rhythm is the Test debut.

At the press conference the day before the start of the match ( yesterday), head coach Russell Domingo’s face was heard praising Zakir. He also compared this batsman to Tamim Iqbal.

In his international career, Zakir Hasan played only one T20 match for Bangladesh. Four years ago, against Sri Lanka in 2018, he scored 10 runs. Later, the left-handed batsman was not seen in the national team.