Bangladesh 10 to 0 trail Pakistan 274 (Ayub 58, Masood 57, Agha 54, Mehidy 5-61, Taskin 3-57) 264 runs
Bangladesh’s openers Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan had to face two overs before stumps. Mir Hamza pushed Shadman to fifth slip on the first ball of the innings, but Saud Shakeel seized the opportunity to ensure Bangladesh returned safely.
Pakistan’s absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah makes their position even more precarious. With Naseem “resting”, Pakistan’s four frontline bowlers have all played in 16 Tests.
Earlier, a warm and sunny morning greeted the team after rain washed away the opening day. Given the dampness on the pitch, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto had no hesitation in bowling first in the four-day Test.
Taskin, who returned from a shoulder injury, proved his captain right by striking in his first over. After throwing five outswingers to Abdullah Shafiq, he took the last ball and it bounced back off the seam. Shafiq was not prepared for this. He stepped up to defend but left a big gap between his bat and pad. The ball slid out and hit the top of the off stump.
For a while, Taskin and Hasan Mahmud kept Ayub quiet by bowling mainly around the wicket. Ayub was at one point on 25 balls for 4, but he then hit 3 fours in the next 11 balls he faced. Masood was positive from the start. As a result, the 50 between the two came off just 68 balls.
The Bangladesh seamers were not without their share of mistakes, but none of them managed to take a wicket. The pitch eased as the day progressed. Ten minutes before lunch, Masood reached his fifty off 54 balls. He hit only two fours for his fifty, the fastest fifty with two or fewer boundaries in Test cricket since 2002.
At lunchtime, Pakistan were comfortably 100-1 in 25 overs. But things changed after the break when Mehidy quickly removed Masood and Ayub. Rounding the wicket, he first caught Masood lbw with a straight ball after pitching. Ayub caught Nahid Rana for four, but when he came out of the crease and beat Mehidy, the off-spinner beat him on flight and stumped him.
Mehidy had a chance to add to Pakistan’s woes but missed a regular catch from Shaq at second slip off Rana’s bowling. Had the catch been taken, Pakistan would have been 125 for 4.
But Shakeel failed to capitalise on the reprieve. He hit four consecutive fours against Taskin but was run out for 16 after hitting the last ball of the over on stumps.
At 151-4, Pakistan tried to get out of trouble by relying on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan several times. But it didn’t happen. Shakib played Babar back with an arm ball when the batsman should have been forward and left him lbw. Shakib could have caught Agha in the same over, but Zakir failed to get a difficult bat-pad chance at short leg.
Rizwan fell just after tea time and blocked a short ball sent to first slip by Rana. Agha and Khurram Shahzad added 25 runs for the seventh wicket to keep Bangladesh at bay for a while. Mehidy came close to ending their resistance when Shahzad edged a low one to the left of first slip, but Shadman could only get his fingertips on the ball.
But Mehidy didn’t have to wait long. In the next over, Shahzad mishit a floated shot towards mid-off and Shakib quickly moved to his right to take a falling catch.
But Bangladesh were not done with their talents. Soon after, Mominul Haque missed a simple chance from Mohammad Ali at Shakib’s leg slip. But Bangladesh were spared as Mehidy caught Ali at slip in the next over.
Aga got another life on 46. He edged Taskin inside with his pad and Mehidy grabbed the rebound off Gully. But the referee didn’t spot the edge. Bangladesh, who had all the reviews on, had no choice but to accept the decision on the pitch. Aga pulled Taskin to fine leg for a six to take his tally to 50.
With only two wickets left, Agha took more and more risks. He added 28 runs for the ninth wicket with Abrar Ahmed before handing Tasking to fine leg. At the other end, Abrar gave responsibility to Mehidy, who panicked and brought the curtain down on the innings.
Hemant Brar is the sub-editor of ESPNcricinfo.
