RAWALPINDI: Shoriful Islam dismissed Saim Ayub to strengthen Bangladesh’s command in the first Test of the two-match series against Pakistan here at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
At the Stumps on Day 4, Pakistan got to 23/1 and trailed by 94 runs.
The home side had a disappointing start to their second innings as opening batter Saim Ayub (1) perished in the third over, falling victim to Shoriful Islam.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood then joined Abdullah Shafique and knitted a cautious stand.
The duo of Shan and Abdullah, unbeaten on nine and one respectively, will resume Pakistan’s second innings at 23/1 on the final day of the ongoing Test.
In response to Pakistan’s 448/6d, Bangladesh piled up a mammoth 565 all-out, courtesy of a splendid seventh-wicket partnership between Rahim and Miraz.
Pakistan bowlers, who struggled throughout the day, finally got some success in the third session as they bagged four wickets to sweep off the innings.
Rahim remained the top-scorer for Bangladesh with 191 off 341 deliveries, laced up with 23 boundaries including a six.
He was supported by Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who scored 77, before falling victim to Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Later, Shoriful Islam added valuable runs at the backend with his 22-run cameo.
For Pakistan, Naseem Shah bagged three wickets, followed by Shaheen, Khurram Shehzad and Mohammad Ali, who claimed two each.
Bangladesh added 106 runs to their first innings’ total and thus secured a 47-run lead with a session and a day’s action left.
Rahim and Miraz dominated Pakistan bowlers in the second session and extended their seventh-wicket partnership to 163.
At the conclusion of the second session, Rahim was unbeaten on 173, while Miraz had scored 50 not out.
Earlier, Bangladesh resumed their first innings at 316-5 with Rahim and Litton Das. The overnight partnership, however, did not last long as Naseem Shah got rid of Das in the ninth over of the day.
Das played an important 56-run knock for Bangladesh, which featured eight fours and a six.
Mushfiqur Rahim remained unfazed by Das’ dismissal and kept the scoreboard ticking for the home side and soon brought up a magnificent century.
Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel
When the umpires called for the Lunch Break, Rahim was unbeaten on 101 while Miraz had scored 17 not out.
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.
READ: Reserve day added as Sri Lanka host New Zealand for Test series