Taijul Islam matched Shakib Al Hasan’s record and reached the top of Bangladesh’s Test wicket chart. He did it on the third day of the second Test in Mirpur.
Taijul bowled with great control in Ireland’s second innings. He sent down 35.3 overs. He took 4 wickets for 76 runs and kept 6 maidens. This spell pushed him level with Shakib as Bangladesh’s joint highest wicket taker in Tests with 246 wickets.
He ended the second day with one wicket. Harry Tector was lbw to him. Taijul came back strong on the third day. Play stopped for a few minutes in the morning because of the earthquake. When the match resumed, he struck twice in the 59th over. He removed Stephen Doheny and Andy McBrine within three balls. He later took the last Irish wicket. Matthew Humphreys tried a reverse sweep and gave a catch to Khaled Ahmed at point.
Shakib needed 121 innings to reach this mark. Taijul did it in 101 innings. Mehidy Hasan Miraz is close behind with 209 wickets from 97 innings. Mohammad Rafique is next with 100 wickets from 33 matches. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is the only pacer in the top five with 78 wickets from 36 matches.
Ireland were all out for 265 in their first innings in Mushfiqur Rahim’s 100th Test. Hasan Murad and Khaled Ahmed took two wickets each. Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto chose not to enforce the follow on. Bangladesh began their second innings with a lead of 211 runs.
