On-song Shanto's stellar run continues as Tigers end Day 1 on a high note

Najmul Hossain Shanto is having the time of his life. Everything he touches is turning into gold in 2023. Be it white ball or red ball, Shanto has been scoring runs for fun. He now has scored 719 in 17 innings he batted across all formats at an average of more than 50. All the jeers have turned to massive cheers. 

After his match-winning hundred against Ireland last month, Shanto now scored a Test ton against Afghanistan on the first day of the one-off Test in Mirpur. 

He bagged his third Test hundred on the way to the 146-run innings from 175 balls. The hosts accumulated 362/5 at the end of the first day's play riding on Shanto's brilliant knock. They would go beyond their highest total on Day 1 in Tests (374/4 against Sri Lanka in 2018) had full overs have been played. Afghanistan managed to bowl only 79 overs, 11 overs short of a regular day's play.  

Shanto was aggressive right from his innings. He scored at a strike rate of more than 83 and struck 23 boundaries including two maximums. He came on to bat at three, a bit too early in the day. Zakir Hasan was caught behind for one in the second over. But Shanto never let the Tigers feel any pressure right from the word go. 

The southpaw was accompanied brilliantly by Mahmudul Hasan Joy who bagged 76 from 137 deliveries. The duo built a partnership of 212 runs for the second wicket. 

Joy struck nine boundaries and was looking solid to reach his second Test hundred. But he was dismissed in the 45th over, just before Tea. Mominul Haque came in and looked uncomfortable in the middle. He only survived a few scares before eventually getting out for 15.

Bangladesh seemed to lose track after a fine start for a while. They lost Mominul, Shanto, and skipper Litton Das in the span of 11 overs. The scoreboard that showed 256/2 after 52 overs, became 290/5 after 63.1 overs. 

Bangladesh's 12th Test captain Litton didn't have the outing as he would have expected. He departed for only nine. 

But Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz survived the rest of the day without any further trouble. They built an unbeaten partnership of 72 runs too see off the day's play. Mushfiq is unbeaten on 41 and Miraz bagged 43 runs. 

Afghanistan's bowling and fielding were equally poor. They conceded more than five runs per over at one point and bowled regular wide and no balls. Spinner Zahir Khan bowled eight no-balls while Nijat Masood and Amir Hamza bowled three no-balls each. 

Nijat was the star bowler with two wickets while Zahir, Amir Hamza and Rahmat Shah picked up a wicket each.