Hasan Mahmud took a Test hat-trick — the first by a Bangladesh fast bowler — to help bowl out Afghanistan for 240 on day three of the only Test at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, and Bangladesh built on that advantage with a 159-run stand between Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim to close the day with their overall lead out to 329 runs.
Afghanistan had resumed well placed on day three after Abdul Malik's maiden fifty and captain Rahmat Shah's unbeaten start on day two, but their innings folded around a superb unbeaten century from Rahmat Shah, who carried his bat through to 105 not out as the rest of the order gave way around him. Hasan Mahmud's hat-trick — a rare feat in Test cricket and a first for a Bangladesh pace bowler — did the bulk of the damage in wrapping up the innings at 240, handing Bangladesh a first-innings lead of 106.
Batting again, Bangladesh lost three wickets for 53 runs inside the first 15 overs, putting their healthy first-innings lead briefly at risk of being squandered. Shanto and Mushfiqur steadied the innings with a partnership of 159, both batters falling just short of individual centuries — Shanto for 82, bowled by a sharply turning leg-break from Qais Ahmad, and Mushfiqur for 81, dismissed by Zia-ur-Rehman. Bangladesh closed the day on 223 for 6, with Litton Das unbeaten on 5 and Mehidy Hasan Miraz yet to score.
A lead of 329 with four second-innings wickets still in hand puts Bangladesh in position to bat Afghanistan out of the match entirely, rather than simply setting a defendable target — the kind of position a touring side in Afghanistan's situation finds very difficult to come back from inside the two days of playing time left. Rahmat Shah's century, scored while carrying the captaincy in the enforced absence of Rashid Khan and Ibrahim Zadran, is the one individual positive Afghanistan can carry into the final two days regardless of the result.
This is the only Test of Bangladesh's tour of the UAE, so there is no series context riding on the result beyond this single match, but a strong finish would be a meaningful response for a Bangladesh side that has had a mixed run in longer-format cricket against sides outside the traditional top tier. Mahmud's hat-trick, in particular, is the kind of individual landmark that outlasts the result of any one match.
Day four picks up with Bangladesh looking to either extend the lead well past 400 or set Afghanistan a target before the close, with two days of play remaining in the five-day match.
Live scores and ball-by-ball updates from the remainder of the match are available on SportGod's live matches page, with more international cricket coverage on SportGod's blog.
Scores and individual figures in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked reporting as of the close of day three, October 11, 2026.
Try Sport God AI live
Live scores, AI predictions, and fantasy — free during IPL 2026.