Half-centuries from Saud Shakeel and Saim Ayub aided Pakistan’s recovery on a curtailed yet engrossing opening day’s play of the first Test in Rawalpindi. Only 41 overs were bowled in the day but there was sufficient time for Bangladesh to make early inroads, reducing Pakistan to 16/3, before the hosts staged a comeback as they went into Stumps at 158/4.
Bangladesh won what could be an important toss and made excellent use of the new ball in favorable conditions to take out three early wickets, but half-centuries from Saim Ayub and Saud Shakeel ensured Pakistan ended a truncated first day on an even keel. Both Saim Ayub and, in particular, Saud Shakeel, brought a proactive approach to handling Bangladesh’s seamers, often shuffling out of their crease to disturb their lengths and narrow the extent of movement they were able to generate.
Pitch and Toss
“There will be plenty of moisture to work with. There might be some help for the spinners as well. Generally the fast bowlers will have help because of all the moisture in the first session and you don’t want to waste the new ball,” says Bazid Khan.
Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and chose to bowl in conditions favorable for bowling. Pakistan skipper Shan Masood who also wanted to bowl first on a green pitch had to content with batting first.
Saim Ayub, Saud Shakeel steady Pakistan after early wobble
Saim Ayub and Saud Shakeel led Pakistan’s fightback on Day 1 of the first Test in Rawalpindi after the Bangladesh seamers did early damage when play finally got underway. Having lost three early wickets, an unbroken 65-run stand between Ayub and Shakeel helped Pakistan to 81/3 at Tea.
The first day’s play began only four hours after the scheduled start, with a wet outfield keeping the groundsmen busy and the players waiting. After multiple inspections, the toss happened at 2:00 PM local time, with Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto opting to bowl, eager to make the most of the moisture on the pitch and also the generous amount of grass.
Hasan Mahmud delivered the early breakthrough, tempting Abdullah Shafique into a drive, with the resultant edge ending up in the hands of Zakir Hasan who took a fine catch in the slip cordon.
Pakistan skipper Shan Masood played a classy backfoot drive square of the wicket for the first boundary of the day. But his stay was short-lived as Shoriful Islam had him caught-behind, with Bangladesh making successful use of the DRS. Masood had a word with the onfield umpire and wasn’t happy with the decision, suggesting perhaps that the spike on UltraEdge was after the ball had passed the bat.
Pakistan slipped to 16/3 as Shoriful dismissed Babar Azam for a duck, getting the premier batter caught down the leg-side with Litton Das taking a stunning catch.
Shakeel started confidently, driving a Nahid Rana delivery past mid off for a boundary while Ayub, who had started watchfully, was beginning to settle in, playing drives and flicks for a few couples. Ayub struck his first four with a cut shot off Mahmud, which was followed by an expensive opening over by Mehidy Hasan Miraz who was swept for a four by Shakeel while Ayub came down the track, made room and went over long-off for a maximum.
The frequency of boundaries increased as the session went on, with the fourth-wicket pair raising a half-century stand in quick time. A stylish on drive off Rana got Ayub another boundary as he entered the 40s and went into the break unbeaten along with Shakeel.
The other two quicks, however, enjoyed a productive day, particularly with the new ball. Shoriful Islam and Mahmud hammered away on a good length in conditions where the ball swung, seamed and occasionally lifted off damp areas on the pitch. Both beat the bat regularly in the early overs, and Bangladesh didn’t have to wait long before the breakthrough came.
It came via a wide outswinger from Mahmud, not quite a half-volley, that Abdullah Shafique chased after being kept to just two runs off his first 13 balls. His drive turned into an aerial slice, and Zakir Hasan grabbed it spectacularly, throwing himself full-length to his right at gully.
The left-armer Shoriful tested both Ayub and Pakistan captain Shan Masood with his line in the fifth-stump channel, mostly swinging the ball away from the left-handers but getting the odd one to nip in off the pitch. One of these nip-backers sent back Masood, though in contentious circumstances.
Masood pushed forward to defend – bat and pad fairly close together – and the ball kissed one or both on its way to keeper Litton Das, who appealed vociferously for caught-behind. Though he wasn’t given out on the field, Bangladesh had their man ruled out on review, with TV umpire Michael Gough ruling that a spike on Ultra-Edge was evidence of ball on bat, though there seemed to be a chance that it had missed the inside edge and brushed the flap of the pad instead.
Having had that bit of fortune going their way, Bangladesh had another soon after, when Babar Azam fell for a duck to an innocuous delivery, tickling an off-target inswinger from Shoriful down the leg side, into the left glove of an acrobatically diving Litton.
Saud Shakeel and Saim Ayub help Pakistan redeem the 1st day vs Bangladesh
The day’s play began only four hours after the scheduled start, with a wet outfield keeping the groundsmen busy and the players waiting. After multiple inspections, the toss happened at 2:00 PM local time, with Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto opting to bowl, eager to make the most of the moisture on the pitch and also the generous amount of grass.
Hasan Mahmud delivered the early breakthrough, tempting Abdullah Shafique into a drive, with the resultant edge ending up in the hands of Zakir Hasan who took a fine catch at slip. Pakistan skipper Shan Masood played a classy backfoot drive square of the wicket for the first boundary of the day.
But his stay was short-lived as Shoriful Islam had him caught-behind, with Bangladesh making successful use of the DRS. Masood had a word with the onfield umpire and wasn’t happy with the decision, suggesting perhaps that the spike on UltraEdge was after the ball had passed the bat. Pakistan slipped further as Shoriful dismissed Babar Azam for a duck, getting the premier batter caught down the leg-side with Litton Das taking a stunning catch.
Shakeel started confidently, driving a Nahid Rana delivery past mid off for a boundary while Ayub, who had started watchfully, was beginning to settle in, playing drives and flicks for a few couples. Saim Ayub struck his first four with a cut shot off Mahmud, which was followed by an expensive opening over by Mehidy Hasan Miraz who was swept for a four by Shakeel while Saim Ayub came down the track, made room and went over long-off for a maximum.
The frequency of boundaries increased as the session went on, with the fourth-wicket pair raising a half-century stand in quick time. A stylish on drive off Rana got Saim Ayub another boundary as he entered the 40s and went into the Tea break unbeaten along with Shakeel. The bowlers weren’t getting any help after the initial period and both Ayub and Shakeel continued their solid partnership after Tea with some good strike rotation and boundaries interspersed.
Ayub reached his maiden Test fifty and was looking good for more but the 22-year old went for a drive away from his body and ended up edging a Mahmud delivery to slip where Mehidy took a good catch to end a 98-run stand. A good partnership between Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan ensued, the former bringing up his fifty in the process, as Pakistan went past 150 in the extended period of play before Stumps.
The fourth-wicket pair put on an enterprising 98 to rescue Pakistan from 16 for 3, and when bad light brought play to a close, the home side were breathing a lot better at 158 for 4. Saim Ayub, playing just his second Test, rode out a difficult early period against the new ball before blossoming to score his maiden half-century. Shakeel, promoted to vice-captaincy, continued his impressive rise in the Pakistan cap by becoming their joint-quickest batter to 1000 Test runs, getting there in his 20th innings to match Saeed Ahmed, who got there in 1959.
Both Saim Ayub and, in particular, Shakeel, brought a proactive approach to handling Bangladesh’s seamers, often shuffling out of their crease to disturb their lengths and narrow the extent of movement they were able to generate.
By stumps, Bangladesh had broken the partnership between the two left-handers, with Hasan Mahmud coaxing Saim Ayub to drive at a ball angled across him that wasn’t quite full enough for the shot. It was his second wicket and similar in conception to his first: relentless good lengths forcing the batter into a risk against a rare, seemingly drive able ball.
This was Bangladesh’s only success of a 20-over post-tea session, as Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan steered Pakistan to stumps with an unbroken partnership of 44 for the fifth wicket. With their partnerships, Saim Ayub, Shakeel and Rizwan may have exposed one structural shortcoming in Bangladesh’s attack. Unlike Pakistan, who went into this Test match with four frontline seamers, Bangladesh picked three seamers and two spin-bowling allrounders.
The offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz, introduced at the start of the 14th over with two left-handers at the crease, bore the brunt of a calculated counterattack, conceding 24 in four overs. He didn’t bowl badly, but with no real help for the spinners this early in the contest, Ayub and Shakeel went after him, using their full reach to sweep him clinically off a good length.
It took until the 39th over for Bangladesh to call on their second spinner, and Pakistan were just as ruthless against Shakib Al Hasan, with Rizwan sweeping him for back-to-back fours in his first over. Together, the two spinners conceded 36 in six overs. The express quick Nahid Rana, picked ahead of the more experienced Khaled Ahmed, was expensive too; on a pitch that rewarded old-fashioned line and length, Bangladesh used him as an enforcer, and it didn’t quite come off on the day, as he went for 48 in 10 overs.
Road Ahead for Pakistan and Bangladesh on Day 2.
Overnight rains delayed the start of the Test but we did manage to get in almost half a day’s play. Bangladesh won a good toss as the pitch was under covers for a lot of time and there was assistance for the fast bowlers early on. Shoriful and Mahmud picked up three early wickets and put Pakistan under pressure. Shakeel joined Ayub and the pair managed to steady the innings.
They did not buckle down and instead batted with intent to keep the scoreboard ticking. Ayub reached his maiden Test fifty and threw it away right after the drinks break, but Shakeel has carried on and has started to stitch another partnership with Rizwan. Day 2 promise a bright sunny day with play to resume at normal times .