Nijat Masood becomes second bowler from Afghanistan to bag five-wicket haul on Test debut

24-year-old Nijat Masood became only the second cricketer from Afghanistan to pick up a five-wicket haul on his Test debut, with figures of 5/79 in the first innings of the one-off Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur.

31-year-old slow-left-arm-orthodox spinner Amir Hamza was the first player from Afghanistan to record a five-wicket haul on his Test debut, achieving the milestone in the second innings against West Indies at Lucknow in November 2019.

The right-arm-pacer made his T20I debut a year ago against Zimbabwe and has played three T20Is for Afghanistan, picking up four wickets.

Njiat also became only the seventh bowler in Test history to pick up a wicket off his first ball, dismissing Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan in the second over of the match. He joined the likes of Richard Illingworth, Nilesh Kulkarni, Chamila Gamage, Nathan Lyon, Shaminda Eranga, Dane Piedt and Hardus Viljoen in achieving the incredible feat.

The youngster picked up two wickets on Day 1 and added another three in the first session on Day 2 to help restrict Bangladesh to 382 in their first innings after the hosts were coasting at 362-5 at the start of the day's play.

Nijat Masood picked up the key wickets of Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim, to add to his scalps of Taijul Islam and Shoriful Islam, in his game-changing spell.

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field first on a green pitch at Mirpur but surrendered the advantage by conceding a sensational 212-run partnership for the second wicket to Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Najmul Hossain Shanto.

However, the second new ball paid rich dividends to the Afghan bowlers as they knocked over the final five Bangladesh wickets for just nine runs to stage a comeback in the contest.

Afghanistan are without their star spinner Rashid Khan for this one-off Test, while Bangladesh are without their stalwarts, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.

"The conditions were challenging" - Mahmudul Hasan Joy

Mahmudul's stylish 76 helped Bangladesh take command on Day 1

Bangladesh opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy was seemingly delighted with his innings of 76 on his Test return against Afghanistan on Day 1 in Mirpur.

Mahmudul last played in the longer format for Bangladesh in the second Test against the West Indies in June 2022.

Speaking about his knock ahead of Day 2, Mahmudul said:

"I felt good because I last played in WI and I didn't get a good score there. But I did well vs WI A and score big here which is great. It build my confidence and helped me play better. The conditions were challenging, Mirpur hasn't offered similar conditions before."

The right-handed opener made his Test debut for Bangladesh against Pakistan in December 2021 and became the first Bangladesh batter to score a Test century against South Africa in April 2022.

Despite a promising start to his Test career, Mahmudul has gone on to average only 25.92 in eight Tests. He was dropped after a disappointing showing in West Indies last year, averaging 16.25 in four innings.