MIRPUR, Bangladesh (AP) — Najmul Hossain hit a half-century as Bangladesh made a steady start to the one-off cricket test against Afghanistan on Wednesday, reaching 116-1 at lunch on the opening day.
Najmul was batting on 64 and opener Mahmudul Hasan was unbeaten on 38 at the first interval.
Bangladesh made a forgettable start after Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and sent the hosts in to bat.
Pace bowler Nijatullah Masood had Zakir Hasan (1) caught behind by wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai, making him the first Afghan bowler to claim a wicket with the first delivery of his test debut.
The delivery from Masood in the second over shaped across Zakir but the on-field umpire remained unmoved. Replays revealed that the ball took the feintest nick off the bat before going through to 'keeper, confirming the dismissal.
By doing so, Masood became the 22nd bowler in the world to achieve the feat.
Najmul counterattacked, epitomizing Bangladesh’s ambition to play an aggressive brand of cricket, and it paid off.
He punished anything short as he struck 11 boundaries in his almost chanceless knock.
Najmul raised his fourth test half-century off 58 balls, pulling a short delivery behind backward square leg for four.
Mahmudul, playing his first test since June last year, was patient during his innnigs as Bangladesh remained untroubled in the morning session.
Bangladesh is without injured senior players Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, with wicketkeeper-batter Liton Das elevated to the captaincy in the test format for the first time.
Afghanistan is without key spin bowler Rashid Khan for its first test match in more than two years since a win over Zimbabwe at Abu Dhabi in March 2021. He was ruled out as a precaution to assist his recovery from a lower back injury sustained during the Indian Premier League.
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