Bangladesh completely dominated Day 4 of the one-off Test at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Resuming their second innings, Bangladesh capitalized on a strong platform and eventually set an improbable fourth-innings target of 479 runs for Afghanistan to win.

Mehidy Hasan joins as Litton Das takes the charge

Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz started on a solid platform provided by Najmul Hossain Shanto (82) and Mushfiqur Rahim (81). Litton played a brilliant counter-attacking knock, bringing up a fine century (100* off 115 balls), while Mehidy chipped in with a solid half-century (50*). The unbeaten 114-run partnership between Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz took the game out of reach of Afghanistan steadily. Bangladesh declared their second innings at 372/7, setting Afghanistan a massive and improbable target of 479 runs to win. Mehidy remained unbeaten on 52 whereas Litton’s innings ended on 102.

Daunting task for Afghanistan on final day

In response, Afghanistan faced early setbacks as their openers stumbled facing a daunting chase. It was survival test for the Afghan batters against a disciplined Bangladeshi bowling attack on a deteriorating pitch. Afghanistan were reduced to 28/2 in almost no time. But thanks to resilience from Rahmat Shah (51) and Sediqullah Atal (35*) Afghanistan innings was stabilized. The duo was cautious while facing the new ball. They showed immense grit that steadied the Afghanistan innings.

By stumps on Day 4, Afghanistan reached 132/3 in 50 overs with Sediqullah Atal and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (19*) holding the fort. With Afghanistan still trailing by 347 runs Bangladesh look to wrap up victory on the final day.  For the Afghans the challenge will be to bat out the remaining sessions to save the Test.

Brief scores: Afghanistan 240 and 132 for 3 (Sediqullah 35*, Hashmatullah 19*, Ebadot 2-32) need another 347 runs to beat Bangladesh 346 and 372 for 7 (Litton 102, Shanto 82, Mushfiqur 81, Zia 2-86)