Bangladesh achieved a huge victory against Afghanistan in the latest Test in Dhaka’s Mirpur. Chasing the difficult target of 662 runs given by the hosts, the visitors’ batting stopped at 115 runs. As a result, Bangladesh left the field with a victory of 546 runs. The victory in the Mirpur Test was Bangladesh’s biggest margin of victory against any team so far. And this is the third-biggest win in Test history. However, this is a pure example of teamwork, while some of the players have changed the momentum. Let’s see the key performers in Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Test 2023.
Key Performers of Bangladesh Team in the Recent Test Against Afghanistan
The Tigers did really well in their Test match against the Afghans. They did a great job in both batting and bowling. Two openers, Zakir Hasan and Mahmudul Hasan Joy, have played well in batting; Najmul Hossain Shanto, Muminul Haque, Liton Das, and Mushfiqur Rahim have handled the responsibility of the middle order greatly. After bringing a big score with the bat, the Tigers performed their bowling duties with potency. The following are the key performers in the Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Test.
Najmul Hossain Shanto
For the Bangladesh cricket team, Shanto scored hundreds in both innings of this match. He scored 146 and 124 runs, respectively, and practically ensured Bangladesh’s victory. After Mominul Haque, Shanto became the second Bangladeshi batsman to score a century in both innings of a Test match.
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Shanto took 118 balls to reach his century in the first innings and 115 balls in the second innings. He hit 23 fours and 2 sixes to reach 146 runs in the first innings. Shanto hit 15 fours in the second innings. He started the third day with 54 runs. He added 212 runs with Mahmudul Hasan for the second wicket in the first innings. This time he added 171 runs with Zakir Hasan. Shanto won the Man of the Match award by scoring a century in two consecutive innings.
Ebadot Hossain
Ebadot Hossain picked up four of Afghanistan’s first eight wickets in the first innings. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul quickly picked up wickets and wrapped up Afghanistan before 150 runs. Even though Ebadot did not get 5 wickets, his success will be considered a big achievement. He got all four wickets in bouncers. He gave only 47 runs to get all those wickets.
In the press conference at the end of the second day’s play, the Tiger pacer said that bouncers and his intelligence worked well to pick the important wickets. He bowled 7 overs in the second innings and got one wicket.
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Mominul Haque
The first innings did not go well for Mominul Haque. However, this left-hander made a great comeback in the second innings against Afghanistan. This cricketer from Cox’s Bazar has seen the magic figure of three digits in extraordinary batting.
The former captain hit a boundary in the 73rd over of the second innings to bring up the 12th century of his career in Test. He played 123 balls to score the century. He hit 12 fours. Mominul last scored a century against Sri Lanka in April 2021. After that, in the last two, he scored three fifties in 26 innings of 14 Tests. Earlier, Mominul scored only 15 runs in the first innings. He hit a four and six off 25 balls before falling victim to debutant pacer Nijat Masood.
Taskin Ahmed
Taskin did not get any wickets in the first innings, where he bowled only 7 overs and 48 runs. However, his excellent bowling in the second innings led Bangladesh to get the historic victory. Taskin was absent in the past few months due to injury. He returned from injury and took 4 wickets for 37 runs.
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The Test ended before the midday break on the fourth day, and this credit goes to Taskin. He took one of Afghanistan’s 2 wickets on the third day. With 3 more wickets on Saturday, he stopped the Afghans for 115 runs.
Shoriful Islam
Shoriful took 5 wickets in total, comprising both innings. He bowled 8 overs in the first innings and got 2 wickets. He got two maiden overs and gave only 28 runs. Shoriful became more aggressive in the second innings and got 3 wickets. He bowled 10 overs and got one maiden over. He gave 28 runs in this innings too.
Key Performers of the Afghanistan Team against Bangladesh
None of the Afghan players except Nijat Masood played a big role in the Test match. Let’s see Nijat’s tremendous performance in detail.
Nijat Masood
Afghanistan’s only achievement in the match can be said to be the 5 wickets of debutant pacer Nijat Masood in the first innings. He also made a rare feat in cricket by dismissing Zakir Hasan with his first ball in his career. This left-handed pacer picked up 5 wickets in the debut match. Nijat Masood became the second Afghanistan cricketer to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut. He returned Zakir Hasan for 1 run.
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Besides, he sent back Muminul Haque for 15 runs, Mushfiqur Rahim for 47 runs, Taijul Islam for 0 runs, and Shoriful Islam for 6 runs. Nijat balled 16 overs in the first inning and got two maiden overs. However, he could not shine in the second innings as he balled 12.5 overs and got no wickets.
Final Words
In the 2023 BAN vs AFG Test, Bangladesh wanted to show off their power and Tigers did a fantastic job and completely dominated the Afghans, achieving their biggest victory ever.