Najmul Hossain Shanto dazzled brightly on day 3 of the ongoing Sylhet Test as he scored his 5th Test century to make his captaincy debut in the longest format special and helped Bangladesh take a sizeable lead of 205 runs. Shanto is still batting alongside veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim (43*) and would like to ensure that the hosts set a mammoth target for the visitors to chase in the fourth innings.
The day didn't really start on a positive note for the Bangla Tigers. The pair of Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee added 52 runs for the ninth wicket before part-timer Mominul Haque trapped Jamieson in front of the stumps. Southee was the last wicket to fall for the touring party as they folded for 317 and managed to gain a meagre seven-run lead.
The day didn't bring any joy for Mahmudul Hasan Joy and his opening partner Zakir Hasan as they got dismissed with just 26 runs on the board and were staring at a batting collapse. However, Mominul and Najmul joined hands to aggregate 90 runs for the third wicket and stabilised the innings.
Mominul was a tad unfortunate as his stay was cut short by a massive misunderstanding that led to him getting run out. Shanto, then joined hands with Rahim and made the Kiwi bowlers toil really hard. Bangladesh have already posted 212 runs on the board and that includes an unbeaten 96-run partnership for the fourth wicket between the pair of Shanto and Rahim.
The day will remain etched in the memory of Shanto forever as he became the first Bangladesh player to score a hundred on his Test captaincy debut. He has struck ten boundaries in his knock already and would like to convert it into a big one tomorrow.
The Kiwi spinners will have to spin some magic on day 4 or else Southee and his men might have to chase a daunting total on a deteriorating surface.
