Bangladesh fast bowlers Hasan Mahmud (five for 43) and Nahid Rana (four for 44) exposed Pakistan’s vulnerability outside the off-stump, giving their side a sniff of a 2-0 series win at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, of course, rains permitting.
Chasing 185 for only their third series win outside home, Bangladesh were 42 for no loss in seven overs when play was stopped due to bad light, forcing an early closure with 46 overs still remaining. The weather forecast for Tuesday is not encouraging and both sides will be looking to the heavens, praying for contrasting outcomes.
When play was called off for the day, Zakir Hasan (31) and Shadman Islam (9) were at the crease.
Earlier, seven of the eight Pakistan batters were caught in the arc behind the stumps on the fourth day as the home side was skittled out for 172 in 46.4 overs, 33 minutes before tea. If Abdullah Shafique’s dismissal on Sunday is added, then eight Pakistan batters were left searching for their off-stump, which eventually led to their demise.
Pakistan had resumed their second innings on the penultimate day’s play at nine for two. Opener Saim Ayub (20), who was the first batter out on the fourth day, was the only batter to be caught in front of the stumps, snapped up by Najmul Hossain Shanto off Taskin Ahmed at mid-off. The other batter to avoid being caught behind the wickets was nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad, who was bowled on the final ball of Sunday’s play.
Shan Masood (28), Saud Shakeel (2) and Mohammad Rizwan (43) were caught at the wicket by Litton Das, while Babar Azam (11), Mohammad Ali (0), Abrar Ahmed (2) and Mir Hamza (4) were caught in the slips.
Credit for forcing these seven batters into false strokes must be given to fast bowlers Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana, who shared nine wickets between them, with one wicket also falling to fast bowler Taskin. It was quite a contrast, as Pakistan had lost their first six innings wickets on Saturday to spinners, with Mehidy Hasan Miraz picking up five wickets.
The only batter to offer some resistance was No. 7 batter Salman Ali Agha, who followed up his 54 with 47 not out – an innings that came off 71 balls and included six fours and a six. Together with Mohammad Rizwan (43), Salman put on 55 runs for the seventh wicket after Pakistan had slipped from 47 for two to 81 for six.
Starting the day at nine for two, Pakistan had their backs against the wall when they went for lunch at 117 for six, with Rizwan and Salman batting on 38 and seven, respectively. Interestingly, Bangladesh had also lost six wickets in the first session of the third day’s play while scoring 65 runs. After the first day’s play was completely lost, Pakistan had gone into lunch on day two at 99 for one.
Hasan Mahmud picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in his third Test, adding the scalps of Rizwan, Ali, and Hamza to his earlier wickets of Abdullah Shafique and nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad. He finished his workload for the tour with figures of 10.4-1-43-5.
Nahid dismissed Babar and added the wickets of Shan, Saud, and Abrar to end with impressive figures of 11-1-44-4. Since scoring 161 against New Zealand in Karachi in December 2022, Babar has had a difficult time with the bat in the traditional format, managing scores of 14, 24, 27, 13, 24, 39, 21, 14, 1, 41, 26, 23, 0, 22, 31, and 11. This makes 16 innings without a half-century, with an aggregate of 331 runs.
Scores in brief (day 4 of 5)
Pakistan 274 all-out, 85.1 overs (Saim Ayub 58, Shan Masood 57, Salman Ali Agha 54, Babar Azam 31, Mohammad Rizwan 29; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-61, Taskin Ahmed 3-57) and 172 all-out, 46.4 overs (Salman Ali Agha 47 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 43, Shan Masood 28, Saim Ayub 20; Hasan Mahmud 5-43, Nahid Rana 4-44)
Bangladesh 262 all-out, 78.4 overs (Litton Das 138, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 78, Hasan Mahmud 13 not out; Khurram Shahzad 6-90, Salman Ali Agha 2-13, Mir Hamza 2-50) and 42-0, 7 overs, (Zakir Hasan 31 not out)
