RAWALPINDI: Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das scored dominant half-centuries to help Bangladesh reach 316-5 at the end of Day 3 of the first Test against Pakistan here on Friday.
Mushfiqur and Litton will resume their innings on Day 4 from 55 and 52 respectively with a trail of 132 runs.
Bangladesh lost the only wicket of Shakib Al Hasan (15) in the final session, as Saim Ayub claimed his maiden Test wicket.
After Shakib’s dismissal, Mushfiqur and Litton stitched an unbeaten 98-run stand to push the team’s total to 316.
Mushfiqur played an anchor’s role, while Litton attacked Pakistan bowlers, especially Naseem Shah, hitting 18 runs in an over.
For Pakistan, Khurram Shahzad picked two wickets, while Naseem, Mohammad Ali and Saim claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, Shadman missed out on a well-deserved century at the stroke of tea as he was castled on the last ball of the session, leaving Bangladesh reeling at 199-4.
The top-order batting departed after scoring a well-fought 93 from 183 balls, laced with twelve boundaries.
Bangladesh lost Mominul Haque right after he reached his half-century as Khurram Shahzad bowled him on the first ball of the 52nd over. Mominul scored 50 off 776 with the help of five boundaries.
Mushfiqur Rahim joined Shadman, who remained the chief accumulator for Bangladesh throughout the day.
The veteran batter scored an unbeaten 15 before Ali knocked Shadman’s stumps at the stroke of Tea on Day 3.
Earlier, Bangladesh started the day at 27/0, with Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan unbeaten on 12 and 11 respectively.
However, Zakir soon fell prey to Naseem Shah as Mohammad Rizwan took a brilliant catch behind the stumps.
Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto came out to bat and showed some resistance with a cautious knock of 16 runs from 42 balls before Khurram Shahzad bowled him.
Shadman was then joined by Mominul Haque and together they helped Bangladesh recover with a solid batting display, knitting an unbeaten 81-run partnership.
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Shadman struck a boundary off Naseem on the last ball of the session to reach his third Test half-century, while Mominul remained unbeaten at 45.
Earlier, Pakistan declared their innings at 448/6 on Day 2 with Mohammad Rizwan unbeaten on 171.
When Pakistan captain Shan Masood called for the declaration, Rizwan was just 29 runs away from his maiden Test double century while Shaheen Shah Afridi was unbeaten with a 24-ball 29.
Rizwan remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with an undefeated 171 off 239 deliveries, laced up with 11 fours and three sixes.
Pakistan added 81 runs to their total in the second session while Bangladesh struck once when Shakib Al Hasan dismissed Salman Ali Agha on 19.
Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud each bagged two wickets for Bangladesh while Shakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz shared two wickets between them.
The two-match series between Pakistan and Bangladesh is a part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) and will run from August 21 to September 4 with both matches to be played at the same venue.
Pakistan are currently ranked sixth in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25. They have played two away series in the championship, winning 2-0 against Sri Lanka and losing 3-0 to Australia.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Ali.
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumer Das, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana
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