Left-arm spinner Hasan Murad claimed 5-47 as BCB High-Performance Unit (HP) took the upper hand over Bangladesh A team on the very first day of the second four-day game at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Wednesday.
Before the bails were drawn, Bangladesh A team reached 223-9 with Rakibul Hasan batting on 6. The situation could have worsened had skipper Mominul Haque and Nazmul Hossain Shanto not played sensibly.
Shanto who made 97 in the only innings of drawn first four-day game, scored 72 this time around while Mominul, who missed the first match due to a family emergency, scored 62. They put on 88-run for the third wickets after Bangladesh A were reduced to 11-2. Pace bowler Sumon Khan was key in giving the A team a nightmare at the outset of the game as he justified the captain Akraba Ali's decision to bowl first with a gem of pace bowling.
He got rid of two openers Saif Hasan (2) and Shadman Islam (6) to push the A team on the back foot. As Mominul and Shadman looked to be assured in the crease, Rezaur Rahman broke through with the wicket of the former to give the side a sigh of relief.
Mominul before being dismissed, struck six fours and one six in his knock in which he played 85 balls.
Shanto remained unscathed but Hasan Murad appeared on the stage to trigger a collapse that saw A team losing wickets at regular intervals. When Murad was on carnage, Shahadat Hossain Dipu ended Shanto's resistance after he hit four fours and one six in his 208 ball-72 runs knock. Apart from Hasan Murad, Sumon Khan 2-36 while Rezaur and Shahadat picked up one wicket apiece.