Left-handed batter Zakir Hasan finally delivered on a bigger stage scoring a big ton, 173, that helped Bangladesh A to save an unofficial Test against India A on Friday in Cox’s Bazar. 

To play this innings, Zakir faced more than 400 balls against a quality bowling attack of India that included Navdeep Saini, Mukesh Kumar, and Saurabh Kumar. 

On the fourth day of the match, Bangladesh needed to bat the whole day with nine wickets in hand.

Read more: Unofficial Test: Zakir, Shanto hit fifties as Bangladesh A fight back against India A

Bangladesh batted for 88 overs, losing eight wickets. They ended on 341 for nine. For India, Saurabh Kumar scalped five for 63 runs. 

The day was called off with two overs to go due to bad light at the venue. At that stage of the match, Bangladesh needed to bat for two more overs to save the match, and India required only a wicket to seal it. 

Bangladesh lost the first wicket after posting 71 to the board in their second innings. But Zakir and Najmul Hossain Shanto added 148 runs in the next wicket stand.

But Mominul Haque and Mohammad Mithun failed to take the onus. They posted only 17 and 10 runs, respectively. Mosaddek Hossain, who hit a fifty in the first innings, suffered a duck in the second. 

Read more: Unofficial Test: Fragile Bangladesh A on the back foot against India A

Earlier, Bangladesh scored only 112 runs in the first innings of the match. In reply, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhimanyu Easwaran hit a century each, and they helped India post a massive total of 465 for five. 

The second unofficial Test of this series will take place on December 6 in Sylhet.