After a long wait, Bangladesh finally records a century opening partnership in tests
After 33 innings of frustration, Bangladesh has finally broken their long drought with a century opening partnership in Test cricket. The partnership was formed between Shadman Islam and Anamul Haque, who provided the team with the desired strong start on Day 2 of the Chattogram Test against Zimbabwe.
Just before lunch, Zimbabwe’s captain, Craig Ervine, made an unexpected move by handing the ball to part-time spinner Brian Bennett. However, it didn’t pay off. Shadman Islam sent Bennett’s first ball to the boundary, taking Bangladesh past the 100-run mark and ending a lengthy period of disappointment.
“After a long period of frustration and failure, Bangladesh has finally managed to score a century-opening partnership in Tests. The new pair of Shadman Islam and Anamul Haque provided the much-needed start for the team.”
On Day 2, Bangladesh was in a strong position after taking Zimbabwe’s last wicket with the first ball of the day. Taijul Islam added to his previous five wickets with another, leaving Zimbabwe with no resistance. Then, with the bat, Shadman and Anamul saw off the entire first session without losing a wicket.
At lunch, Bangladesh was comfortably placed at 105 without loss. After lunch, the partnership was broken at 118 when Anamul was dismissed lbw by Blessing Muzarabani for 39 off 80 balls.
The last century-opening stand Bangladesh had in Test cricket was also at this venue in December 2022 against India. In that match, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan put together a 124-run stand. Since then, 33 innings had passed without a century-opening stand. In fact, in the last 13 innings, Bangladesh’s opening pair hadn’t even reached 50 runs.
The pitch on Day 2 was very supportive for batting, and Zimbabwe’s bowlers seemed lacking in sharpness. Anamul did face a few awkward moments early on, being struck on the helmet once and struggling to time a few deliveries. However, he was able to regain his composure and hold his wicket. Before this match, his total runs from the last five Tests had been just 100, with an average of 10. His highest score had been just 23. But in this match, he exceeded that performance.
However, he couldn’t achieve his first half-century. Just after lunch, he was dismissed by a delivery from Muzarabani, caught LBW for 39 runs off 80 balls.
Shadman, on the other hand, was positive from the outset. Zimbabwe’s bowlers kept offering loose deliveries, and Shadman made good use of them, playing some exquisite drives and cut shots to add runs to the total. This marked his seventh time reaching fifty in Test cricket. Only once before had he converted a fifty into a century. At lunch, he remained unbeaten with 66 runs off 91 balls, including 10 boundaries.
During this innings, Shadman also reached a significant milestone—completing 1,000 runs in Test cricket.
No Zimbabwean bowler was able to create any lasting impact on Shadman and Anamul. The bowlers failed to maintain a consistent line and length, and the Bangladesh openers capitalized on the conditions to give hope to the team after a long period of disappointment.
