Image Credit- AFP
Hossain Najmul By the end of the third day, Shanto’s
sixth Test century had significantly shifted the Sylhet Test in favour of
Bangladesh. With seven wickets remaining, the host team leads New Zealand by
205 runs after controlling the majority of the day’s play.
Together with Mushfiqur Rahim, Shanto put on 96 runs
to establish an unbroken fourth wicket stand. After hitting two tonnes against
Afghanistan in June, Shanto’s century in this Test was his third in the
previous four innings. After reaching the three-figure milestone, Shanto
celebrated grandly, and Bangladesh, who had lost two early wickets in their
second innings, exhaled with relief.
The home team’s day didn’t start off to a great start
either. 52 runs were contributed by Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson of New
Zealand, who took the ninth wicket, but more significantly, they batted out the
first hour and a bit more. The partnership saw four boundaries shared by
Southee and Jamieson, but the most of the batting was well defensively.
Bangladesh was also guilty of opposing the two tail-enders with deep fields.
Eventually, after 17 overs, Mominul Haque, a
part-timer, trapped Jamieson leg before wicket for 23 runs. Mominul bowled
Southee with a full ball later in the over. With 62 balls, Southee produced a
polished 35.
Before lunch, Zakir Hasan and Mahmudul Hasan Joy, the
opening batsmen for Bangladesh, completed the challenging 10 overs, but New
Zealand quickly struck after the interval. Zakir Hasan was caught off guard by
Ajaz Patel’s speech, which abruptly reverted back to his font pad. Zakir walked
back for 17 after refusing to take the review, but Patel had bowled him with an
identical delivery in the first innings.
A straight drive from Shanto struck the stumps at the
non-striker’s end, grazing Southee’s finger and bringing more misfortune to the
home team. Joy was just outside the crease, and he attempted to return, but he
was only a few inches away. Joy had patiently persevered through 46 balls with
only eight runs scored.
After taking the first two wickets, Mominul and Shanto
combined for a third wicket partnership of 90 runs to put Bangladesh on the
right track. Offspinner Glenn Philips smeared saliva on the ball in the 34th
over, during this partnership and just before the tea break, but on-field
umpires Ahsan Raza and Paul Reiffel failed to notice the event right away.
According to ICC regulations, Bangladesh will be awarded five penalty runs as
soon as they witness the incident on television.
Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim took a bit of time to
regroup but settled into a slow rhythm, hardly leaving first gear. Shanto had
slowed down after he reached 40, while Mushfiqur supported him with an almost
similar pace in batting. He refrained from driving for runs, hitting most of
his runs square of the wicket on both sides, getting five boundaries in his
71-ball stay.