Bangladesh finished day three of the first Test at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) yesterday at 380/7, on the back of a brilliant maiden hundred from Mominul Haque. The home side are 89 runs behind New Zealand’s first innings total.
It was Mominul’s day as the left-hander hammered the ball to all corners of the ZACS. His final score of 181 was studded with no less than 27 boundaries and came off just 274 deliveries.
Mominul and debutant Marshal Ayub began the day with the score at 103/2 and left hander carried on from where he had left of the previous day as he charged the slow bowlers and looked to dominate proceedings. Striking five fours from the first 27 balls he faced in the day, Mominul moved to his hundred quickly though not without playing a few edgy shots.
Marshal looked shaky from the start on a pitch that continued to play as true as it had in the two previous days. He faced 109 balls for his 25 before Corey Anderson had him caught to break a 126 run partnership for the third wicket.
This brought Shakib Al Hasan to the crease and in the course of making 19, the all-rounder crossed the 2,000 run mark. After his dismissal, captain Mushfiqur Rahim shared a 121 run partnership with Mominul, who slowed down considerably after reaching his century.
He was eventually out for 181 – the third highest score by a Bangladeshi following Mushfiq’s 200 and Mohammad Ashraful’s 190 – LBW to Corey Anderson, and Mushfiq followed soon afterwards for 67.
It was left to Nasir Hossain to marshal the tail and he added 70 for the seventh wicket with Sohag Gazi, but the star batsman was out just four overs before close of play, caught at mid-on from a wild swing. Sohag remained unbeaten with 28 to his name at stumps and the other not out batsman was veteran spinner Abdur Razzak.
For the Kiwi bowlers, it was a hard day’s work on a lifeless pitch. Seamers Doug Bracewell and Anderson have two wickets apiece.
