Pakistan are well and truly back in the first Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.
At the close of day one, Shan Masood’s side was in the backseat, after the hosts scored 301/4. But by the end of day two on Saturday, the Pakistanis were in the ascendancy, largely thanks to their pacer Mohammad Abbas.
Abbas returned to Pakistan’s Test scheme of things last year after a long gap, and he has since been quite terrific. Abbas struck three wickets in the first session for Pakistan, accounting for Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Das started the day on 48 and 8, respectively, and took the team score to 338 when Abbas removed the latter for 33. Miraz and Islam didn’t stick around for long and were dispatched for 10 and 17.
The second session of the day was worse from the Bangladesh point of view. Shaheen Shah Afridi got the prized wicket of Rahim for 71 in the very first over. Then, in the next over, Abbas picked up where he had left off and dismissed Ebadot Hossain for a duck. With that, he claimed his sixth five-for in Test cricket, having taken the wicket of Bangladesh captain and centurion Najmul Hossain Shanto earlier on day one.
Debutants take charge!
The Bangladeshis were eventually bowled out for 413. Pakistan, in their reply, got a great start as debutant Azan Awais and Imam-ul-Haq added 106 for the opening stand. Miraz accounted for Imam against the run of play as he trapped him lbw for 45.
Abdullah Fazal, another debutant, joined Awais at the crease and both took Pakistan’s score to 179/1 at the end of play. Awais was unbeaten on 85 with Fazal keeping him company on 37. Both have added 78 runs so far. However, the visitors still trail by 234 runs.
In the lead-up to the match, the wicket looked green, and that may have influenced Masood’s decision to bowl first, but after early strikes from Afridi and Hasan Ali, it has been nothing but a belter.
Even though Pakistani bowlers improved on their opening day performance, the pitch appears to have stayed the same. Pakistan will now look to go past Bangladesh’s score and build a healthy first-innings lead, and try to come up with a better showing with the ball in the second innings. It may be noted that it’s a World Test Championship series and there is plenty at stake for both teams.