Dhaka: Wrist spinners wreaked havoc on Day 4 to take Afghanistan closer to a famous win against Bangladesh, who were at 136/6 and still needing 262 to win in the one-off Test in Chattogram on Sunday.
Skipper Rashid Khan took three wickets while Zahir Khan nabbed two as Bangladesh batters were flattened by their guile. Only skipper Shakib Al Hasan waged a lone battle and remained unbeaten on 39. Besides him, opener Shadman Islam scored 41.
Resuming at the overnight score of 237/8 in 83.4 overs with a lead of 374, Afghanistan set Bangladesh a stiff target of 398 to win after the start of play was delayed due to bad light.
Wicketkeeper and overnight batter Afsar Zazai remained unbeaten on 48. For the hosts, skipper Al Hasan returned the best figures of 3/58.
Bangladesh sent Liton Das to open the batting instead of Soumya Sarkar but to little effect as Das was out for nine, with Zahir Khan trapping him in front after lunch.
Bangladesh kept losing wickets as Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan removed Mushtiqur Rahim (23) and Mominul Haque trapped lbw. Rashid could have had another wicket had he managed to hold on to a sharp return catch off Al Hasan's bat.
On day 3, Afghanistan put themselves in the driver's seat largely thanks to a 108-run stand between Asghar Afghan and 17-year-old opener Ibrahim Zadran.
Bangladesh started the day on 196/8 and Mohammad Nabi, playing his last Test, took the first wicket of the day off his third ball, bowling Tauijul Islam through the gate. Two overs later, Rashid Khan finished things off by trapping Nayeem Hasan LBW, thus completing his five-wicket haul.
