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Bangladesh reach 136/6 against Afghanistan as rain forces early stumps

Bangladesh 262 runs short as rains halt play for the day

Afghanistan's cricketer Rashid Khan delivers a ball during the second day of the one-off cricket Test match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on September 6, 2019 | AFP

After rains caused multiple delays at the one-off Bangladesh-Afghanistan Test at Chattogram, the match reached stumps after rain ended the session, with Bangladesh at 136/6 and play set to resume at 9.30am tomorrow.

The one-off Test saw Afghanistan dominate Bangladesh at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, setting the host side a stratospheric target of 398. Bangladesh’s second innings was poor so far, with the side losing six wickets to the deadly combination of spinners Zahir Khan and Rashid Khan.

Rain had already delayed the start of the game. With the day’s play to end at 5.30pm, Bangladesh already had very little time remaining to executive a miracle. The fresh round of showers will give them some breathing roon. Even so, with Bangladesh 262 runs short at stumps, the odds of victory are improbable.

The morning session saw no wickets taken, with openers Liton Das and Shadman Islam performing decently to make 30 runs by lunch. Yet another rain delay then was soon followed up by the loss of Das and Hossain to Zahir Khan deliveries. Rashid Khan took veteran Mushfiqur Rahimout with a leg break around middle stump hitting the batsman’s pads while he was inside the crease. Khan followed up with another LBW, this time of Mominul Haque.

After tea, Mohammad Nabi—for whom this is the final Test—trapped Shadman Islam‘s 41-run spree with an LBW. Shadman was the highest scorer in the Bangladeshi innings so far, although Shakib Al Hassan was close with 39 runs just before rain halted play.

In an interview with ESPN, Bangladesh skipper rued his side’s decision to field an all-spin attack against Afghanistan, with Afghanistan working the pitch to their advantage and Rahmat Shah becoming the country’s first test centurion.