Twin hundreds by Najmul Hossain Shanto along with a strong collective bowling effort helped Bangladesh register a historic 546-run win over Afghanistan on Day 4 of the one-off Test at the Shere Bangla Stadium, here on Saturday.
The 546-run victory margin is Bangladesh’s best in Tests in terms of runs and the third-best overall in Test history. It is also the biggest margin of victory since the 20th century in red-ball cricket.
Resuming the day at 45/2, Afghanistan needed something miraculous to even take the game deep into the fourth day, let alone drag the match into Day 5. In the end, a session all Afghanistan could manage as they were bowled out for merely 115. Bangladesh’s charge was led by their pacers, Taskin Ahmed (4/37) and Islam (3/28). as
Only three Afghanistan batters got to double figures in the second innings as Bangladesh had a near perfect Test match right from the time they opted to bat on the first day.
A big century from Najmul Hossain Shanto (146) led their charge in the first innings, as the Tigers posted 382 in their first innings.
In response, Afghanistan could muster merely 146, with Afsar Zazai 36 being the highest score. Bangladesh pacers Ebadot Hossain (4/47) and Shoriful Islam (2/28) took crucial top-order wickets.
Bangladesh’s aggressive batting in their second dig furthered the advantage of the 236-run lead. Shanto (124), Mominul Haque (121 unbeaten), Zakir Hasan (71) and Litton Das (66 unbeaten) helped their team declare at 425/4 in merely 80 overs. With this, they set their opponents a mammoth target of 662 runs, which turned out to be a big task for Afghanistan.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 382 (Shanto 146, Zakir 76; Masood 5-79) and 425/4 decl (Shanto 124, Mominul 121 not out, Zakir 71) beat Afghanistan 146 (Zazai 36, Jamal 35; Ebadot 4-47) and 115 (Rahmat 30, Taskin 4-37, Shoriful 3-28) by 546 runs.
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