Taijul Islam scripts WTC history with fifer in Colombo Test
What's the story
Veteran left-arm spinner Taijul Islam has made history by becoming the first Bangladeshi bowler to complete 100 wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC). The milestone was en route to a fifer in the ongoing second Test match against Sri Lanka at Colombo's Sinhalese Sports Club. Taijul accomplished the mark with his first wicket in the match. He dismissed four more batters later on. Here are his stats.
Spell
Five-wicket haul for Taijul
Taijul trapped opener Lahiru Udara (40) on Day 2 to open his account. His second wicket was Pathum Nissanka, who top-scored for Sri Lanka with a score of 158. He then went on to dismiss Dhananjaya de Silva (7), Tharindu Ratnayake (10), and Asitha Fernando (0) to complete his five-wicket haul. The spinner finished with 5/131 in 42.5 overs as SL posted 458/10, responding to Bangladesh's first innings score of 247/10.
Milestone
Taijul owns eight WTC fifers
Playing his 25th WTC Test, Taijul has raced to 104 scalps at 34.43. Mehidy Hasan Miraz (87) is the only other Bangladesh bowler with 40-plus WTC wickets. Taijul's journey to the 100-wicket milestone in the WTC has been nothing short of remarkable. His tally includes six four-fers and eight five-wicket hauls. No other Bangladesh bowler has more than two fifers in the championship.
Stats
Here are his Test numbers
Meanwhile, Taijul recorded his 17th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. It was also his second fifer against Sri Lanka in the format, as per ESPNcricinfo. The Bangladesh spinner now has 39 wickets from 11 Tests against SL at 42. He has overall raced to 237 wickets from 55 matches and has an average of 31.32. His tally also includes two 10-wicket match hauls.
Future prospects
Taijul set to break Shakib Al Hasan's record
Notably, Taijul needs just 10 wickets to surpass Shakib Al Hasan and become Bangladesh's highest wicket-taker in the five-day format. Shakib, widely considered one of Bangladesh's greatest cricketers, took 246 wickets in his career, which began in 2007. Meanwhile, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (205) and Mohammad Rafique (100) are the only other Bangladesh bowlers with 80-plus Test scalps.