Najmul Hossain Shanto and debutant Zakir Hasan made sure Bangladesh didn’t lose a wicket in the morning session of the fourth day of the first Test, as the hosts went into lunch break 119-0, chasing a target of 513 against India at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Saturday.
Both Shanto and Zakir completed their respective half-centuries, the former notching up his third in Test cricket while the latter scoring his maiden fifty in only his second innings in the format.
Shanto and Zakir were batting on 64 and 55 respectively when the umpires called for lunch.
Their 119-run opening stand is already the second highest opening stand in the fourth innings of a Test match for the Tigers.
Indian tried all of their options in the session but none of the bowlers could really trouble the Bangladesh openers.
However, Bangladesh had a scare in the final 10 minutes of the session when Zakir got hit on the knee by a throw from Cheteshwar Pujara while going for a run.
Thankfully for Bangladesh, after getting some treatment on his knee from the team physio, Zakir resumed his innings.
Earlier, Bangladesh resumed the day’s play on 42-0, with Shanto and Zakir batting on 25 and 17 respectively and the hosts needing another 461 runs to pull off an incredible victory.
India, on the third day, declared their second innings on 258-2 after Bangladesh got bundled out for 150 in reply to India’s first innings score of 404.