Bangladesh made a declaration of their second inning on the fourth day of the Abu Dhabi Test, declaring at 372/7 after Litton Das scored a century that gave Afghanistan a very high target of 479 to chase. Litton’s 102 was a smooth knock and his contribution was supported by other players in the middle order which put Bangladesh in a much stronger position than before. Afghanistan had to deal with missing many catches throughout this match.
Litton reached his 7th test hundred after lunch. He showed how well he can play aggressively in high-pressure situations. Litton was able to hit a powerful pull shot through square leg to move onto 98. After that, he was able to guide the ball past backward point to reach 100. Litton’s inning did not last much longer, however, he did help Bangladesh take control of the match.
The wicket-keeper/batter also had a 50+ score in Bangladesh’s initial turn at bat, and made 5 catches/dismissals in Afghanistan’s initial turn at bat; therefore, this was a very successful test for the wicket-keeper/batter.
The century made by Litton was also assisted by a significant partnership with Mehidy Hasan Miraz. These two players had 149 runs for the seventh wicket before Mehidy finished his innings at 52 not out, and Bangladesh called off their batting. With this partnership, it is clear that Afghanistan will have to face a very large fourth-innings challenge.
In a game where there were many chances for Afghanistan to take a wicket from this partnership, they continually failed to capitalize on these. Mehidy survived another near-run out experience after he attempted a shot toward mid-on, and Qais Ahmad missed the chance to make it happen. After that, Abdul Malik dropped Mehidy at gully off Mohammad Saleem’s bowling when Mehidy was at 40 runs.
The opportunities to score were equally expensive in the early part of the day. Litton had multiple chances to continue his innings after being reprieved on 14, 26 and 67. On one occasion, a ball from Litton went over Shahidullah’s head in the slip cordon. In another instance, Qais dropped a return catch off Litton. Mehidy was also fortunate when Sediqullah Atal failed to catch a ball that was hit into the slip area off Yamin Ahmadzai. The resulting boundary pushed Bangladesh’s total to over 400 runs.
On the third day of the match, Bangladesh was able to establish an advantage due to the significant fourth-wicket partnership established by Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul Hossain Shanto. Both Rahim and Shanto scored well with Rahim scoring 81 and Shanto contributing 82; together they were able to add 159 runs to help stabilize the innings following multiple quick dismissals by Bangladesh. Although both Rahim and Shanto were dismissed late in the day, leaving Bangladesh at 223 for six, they had already created a strong base for Bangladesh to potentially take control of the game.
Mehidy’s undefeated 50 and Litton’s 100 gave Bangladesh even greater control, enabling them to declare with a 478-run advantage over Zimbabwe, having scored 346 in the first inning and 372/7 in the second.
While Saleem, Zia and Ahmadzai each took two wickets for Afghanistan; however, they lost out on opportunities that would have extended the game to a point where Bangladesh could not have caught up with Afghanistan’s total.
The total number of runs required by Afghanistan to win the Abu Dhabi Test is 479, and Bangladesh requires ten (10) wickets to win the game. On the fourth day of the match and the last few hours of the game, Afghanistan will have to bat under great pressure as they are chasing a very large run target.