Pakistan find themselves in a sturdy position after the end of Day 2. The visitors lost a solitary wicket as they scored 179-1 in 46 overs after skittling out Bangladesh for a magnificent 413. The debutant Azan Awais showed immense maturity, scoring 85 runs in 133 balls and hitting 12 fours. Azan Awais toiled with Bangladeshi bowlers on a grassy wicket, which raised a lot of eyebrows.
Mohammad Abbas breaks the back of Bangladesh in the morning session
After Bangladesh scored 301-4 at the end of Day 1 in 85 overs, there were tremendous expectations from Litton Das & Mushfiqur Rahim to continue to assert dominance. Litton Das struck 3 back-to-back boundaries to Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 87th over, whose placement irked the pacer.
At the end of 96 overs, Bangladesh’s score was 336-4; the duo had survived close to one hour unscathed. In the 97th over, though by Litton Das (33 in 67) was enticed by Mohammad Abbas, who wanted to clear mid on and was back in the pavilion. At that time, the hosts’ score was 338-5 in 96.4 overs.
Mushfiqur Rahim was playing the role of anchor quite perfectly and wasn’t affected by a string of dot balls. Mehidy Hasan Miraz was also the victim of Abbas, as one shot too many was the reason behind his departure in the 101st over. All of a sudden, Bangladesh’s score was 354-6 in 101 overs, and the pitch was starting to misbehave with footmarks assisting the pacers.
Mushfiqur Rahim & Taijul Islam went in defensive mode, which was the need of the hour at that time. The runs were hard to come by, but Taijul squeezed some boundaries in Hasan Ali’s 106th over. Abbas was proving to be the man with the golden arm who got a breakthrough again, and this time of Taijul. Bangladesh’s score at the end of the morning session was 380-7.
Mohammad Abbas’ 5-wicket haul dents Bangladesh in the afternoon session
Bangladesh needed Mushfiqur Rahim to get some quick runs, who was stranded at 71 in 176 balls. Shaheen Afridi immediately in the afternoon session casettled the stumps of Rahim and deepened the agony for the hosts. The veteran batter would regret that he couldn’t get to a three-digit score. Bangladesh’s score was 380-8 in 109.3 overs at the dismissal of Rahim.
Abbas completed his 5-wicket haul by dismissing Ebadot Hossain with a bumper delivery, who was surprised completely. The last wicket partnership of Taskin Ahmed & Nahid Rana frustrated Pakistan a lot. Abbas finished with 5 wickets for 92 runs in his ecstatic comeback after 2017. The short ball ploy wasn’t working, nor the reverse swing, which was quite astounding. Shaheen Afridi broke the 29-run stand as Bangladesh got over 400 runs mark, which is huge in modern-day Test cricket.
Pakistan’s openers, Azan Awais & Imam-ul-Haq, had a tricky phase of 10 overs before the evening session. Imam was quite positive in his approach as he pounced on loose deliveries. The debutant was quite watchful. Azan Awais, though, got hit on the helmet in the 7th over by Nahid Rana, which was a nasty blow, but it wasn’t severe enough to rule him out. Pakistan scored 50 runs in 10 overs and, most importantly, didn’t lose a single wicket.
Azan Awais’ mature knock dictates the evening session
The evening session was crucial for Bangladesh as they needed early wickets to create havoc in Pakistan’s dressing room. Azan Awais & Imam-ul-Haq, though, had other ideas who rotated the strike on a regular basis. The pitch unexpectedly didn’t deteriorate in the evening session as batting seemed a lot easier.
Spinner Mehidy was astonishingly introduced in the 16th over. Imam & Azan were scoring close to 5 runs per over as slowly & steadily the deficit was getting reduced effortlessly. Azan Awais got to his maiden half-century in the 21st over as Ebadot Hossain’s sheer pace wasn’t able to trouble him at all.
Mehidy got the much-needed breakthrough for Bangladesh in the 22nd over as he trapped Imam (45 in 72), DRS also couldn’t help him. Pakistan’s score was 106-1 in 22 overs. The Men in Green, though, got off to a solid start & laid the foundation for the rest of the batters. The debutant Abdullah Fazal can be said to have been way too defensive in his approach, taking 19 balls to get his first international run.
Azan Awais whacked Nahid Rana in the 29th over for 3 back-to-back boundaries, as the newbie was growing in confidence. The partnership was slowly building as there was typical Test match batting from the duo. From the 29th over, Taijul Islam & Mehidy started to operate from both ends to extract turn, but it didn’t yield results. The two debutants somewhat made a powerful Bangladesh’s attack toothless as Abdullah Fazal was unbeaten on 37 in 78 & Azan Awais (85 in 133) is getting close to his maiden hundred. Pakistan amassed 129 runs in 26 overs in the evening session for one wicket.
What lies ahead on Day 3
The second new ball is 34 overs away; the morning session of Day 3 would be pivotal as the deficit is 234 runs. If Pakistan has a wicketless session and a close to 100 runs session, then they would be in the driver’s seat. The middle order of Pakistan is quite flamboyant with Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan & Saud Shakeel & Salman Ali Agha. It can be said that the hosts should capitalize on a brilliant start.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, needs to be patient; all eyes will be on Taskin Ahmed & Nahid Rana, who have been a tad expensive with conceding runs at 5 per over, but they need to be given a long spell on Day 2. Pakistan has a knack for falling like a pack of cards, which Bangladesh will be aware. Day 3 is often said as the moving day in Test cricket; BAN vs PAK: Najmul Hossain Shanto’s Superlative Ton Puts Bangladesh In Command tomorrow can enlighten or ruin both the teams.
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