Stumps Bangladesh 346 and 223 for 6 (Shanto 82, Mushfiqur 81, Ahmadzai 2-42, Zia 2-55) lead Afghanistan 240 (Rahmat 105*, Mahmud 5-51, Ebadot 4-56) by 329 runs
Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul Hossain Shanto took the baton from Hasan Mahmud and Ebadot Hossain against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on the third day of their one-off Test on Sunday, Bangladesh ending the day 329 runs in front.
After Mahmud's five-wicket haul - with a hat-trick thrown in - and Ebadot's four-for left Afghanistan with a big deficit, Mushfiqur and captain Shanto put up a 159-run fourth-wicket stand, putting the game seemingly beyond Afghanistan's grasp.
Afghanistan hit back towards the end of the day's play, though. Both Mushfiqur and Shanto fell in the last seven overs of play, for 81 and 82 respectively, and Mahmud was dismissed too, all of them by spin, but the lead had swelled by the time stumps were called.
Mahmud's milestones were all the talk in the first half of the day.
Shortly after Ebadot broke the 80-run fifth-wicket stand between Rahmat Shah and Ikram Alikhil in 82nd over, Mahmud came into his own. He cleaned up Ismat Alam with a delivery that kept a tad low. Next ball, Qais Ahmad edged one that needed Litton Das to dive low to his right to complete the catch.
Mahmud produced an excellent delivery for the hat-trick, the ball nipping in from a length to hit Zia-ur-Rehman on the back leg. It was reviewed, which was turned down, and the players celebrated Mahmud becoming the first fast bowler from the country to take a Test hat-trick.
Tiger of the Day! Hasan Mahmud delivers a fifer and a hat-trick in the Only Test against Afghanistan. #Bangladesh #Tigers #HasanMahmud #TestCricket https://t.co/LxrUrusrIi
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) October 11, 2026
Legspinner Alok Kapali (2003) and offspinner Sohag Gazi (2013) had achieved the feat previously.
Mahmud completed his five-wicket haul with Yamin Ahmadzai's wicket, which also took him to 50 wickets in Tests in his 17th game.
Ebadot's four wickets, meanwhile, made it the first Bangladesh fast-bowling pair to take at least four wickets each in a Test innings.
Afghanistan had come into the third day with hopes of a lead with Rahmat Shah and Alikhil having added 72 already after they had slipped to 139 for 4 on the second afternoon. After Alikhil fell, Rahmat managed to bring up his century, but largely watched from the other end as batters came and went courtesy Mahmud and Ebadot. Rahmat ended unbeaten on 105 in his first Test as captain, but Afghanistan stopped 106 runs behind.
Magnificent stuff from the skipper, @RahmatShah_08!
#AfghanAtalan | #AFGvBD | #GloriousNationVictoriousTeam https://t.co/Hc4CBN5ojo
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) October 11, 2026
When Bangladesh began, Afghanistan were on target with early wickets. Shadman Islam got out the same way he did in the first innings, holing out with a top-edged pull against Mohammad Saleem. Mominul Haque and Tanzid Hasan then edged Ahmadzai to the slips.
Afghanistan's hopes of a comeback, were stamped out by Mushfiqur and Shanto. The two played contrasting innings - Mushfiqur struck seven boundaries before tea, while Shanto was yet to find one. After the interval, Shanto cover-drove Qais for his first four off the 75th ball he had faced.
Sharp reflexes from Shahidullah, and Yamin continues to enjoy the new ball!
#AfghanAtalan | #AFGvBD | #GloriousNationVictoriousTeam https://t.co/UPGRA6hjpD
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) October 11, 2026
Mushfiqur soon reached his 30th half-century, though it was his first against Afghanistan. As Mushfiqur went into accumulation mode after tea, Shanto also picked up speed, finding the boundary often.
Afghanistan's growing frustration was evident in the poor review they took against Shanto in the 47th over - the ball had hit both glove and bat on the way to the pad.
Shanto attacked with two reverse hits as he picked up his pace towards the end of the day's play, but that's when Zia struck, removing Mushfiqur for 81, scored over 148 balls. Shanto was dismissed six minutes before stumps when Qais got one to spin through his defensive push, through bat and pad and on to the stumps. His 82 included just five boundaries as he lasted 191 balls.
Zia also got Mahmud, getting the ball to turn off the rough off what turned out to be the penultimate delivery of the day.
