Afghanistan A team leg spinner Qais Ahmad claimed a six-wicket haul as Bangladesh A team managed to post 170 for 9 in second knock leading by 166 runs on day three of the 1st four-day unofficial Test at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, Khulna yesterday.

After restricting Afghanistan A to 257,  Bangladesh A made a horrible start to their second innings in a rain affected day. During tea break the host lost four wickets scoring only 61 on the board with three of the five top-order batsmen got dismissed for single-digit scores. After three down for 38, two senior batsmen Imrul Kayes and Anamul Haque Bijoy tried to recover the innings but the duo fell in a span of four overs scoring 34 and 23 respectively.

With top five back in the pavilion, the lower middle-order batsmen found it difficult to accelerate the scorecard from 81 for 5 since Anamul’s dismissal. Afif Hossain, top scorer of the 2nd innings with 41, built small partnership of 33 with Tanbir Hayder and 40 with Sunzamul Islam but both the partnerships did not last for a long.

After promising enough with the bat in the first innings, Afghan spinner Qais Ahmad bamboozled the Bangladesh A batsmen with his leg spin, claiming three crucial wickets of Kayes, Bijoy and Raqibul in the second session. His superb bowling spell brilliantly turned the match around in favour of the visitors. Later on, he picked up the wickets of Afif, Sunzamul and Rabbi to make it six for 62.

With just one wicket left in the second innings, Afghanistan A might fancy their  chances to win over the visitors at Khulna.

Earlier, on day three, the visitors resumed the first innings on 135/5, trailing by 118 runs. Bangladesh bowlers remained wicketless until 45th over before Kamrul Islam Rabbi provided the breakthrough taking the wicket of Shahidullah when the scoreboard was 142 for 6.

At the end of day two, Afghanistan A were definitely on the back foot but came back strongly in the first session on day three. Wicket-keeper batsman Afsar Zazai’s 45, Sharafuddin Ashraf’s 31 and a quick fire 46 off just 53 balls by Qais Ahmed guide the visitors to four-run lead over the host before being bowled out for 257.