RAWALPINDI: Pakistan batting prodigy Saim Ayub broke his half-century drought in international cricket during the first Test against Bangladesh here on Wednesday.
Saim reached the milestone on the last ball of Shoriful Islam’s eighth over on the opening day of the Rawalpindi Test.
The swashbuckling opening batter, playing his second Test, struck four boundaries and one six on his way to a 76-ball half-century.
Saim Ayub made his international debut in March 2023 during a T20I match against Afghanistan, while his Test debut came earlier this year during Pakistan’s tour of Australia.
He returned with scores of 0 and 33 in his debut Test. Meanwhile, in 23 T20I matches, he never crossed the 50-run mark, with his highest score being 49.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh opted to field first after winning the toss following a delayed start due to the wet outfield owing to overnight rain in the city.
Pakistan lost opening batter Abdullah Shafique (2) in the fourth over after Zakir Hasan took a spectacular flying catch off Hasan Mahmud.
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Skipper Shan Masood (6) and star batter Babar Azam (0) fell prey to Shoriful Islam, leaving Pakistan reeling at 16-3.
Saim held on to one end before Saud joined him and together they helped Pakistan to recover with a solid partnership of 65* runs.
Pakistan were 81-3 at the tea break, with Saim and Saud unbeaten at 42 and 28 respectively.
For the unversed, due to the delayed start of the day’s play, only 48 overs will be bowled today. The second and last session will run from 4:40 PM to 6:00 PM.
The day can be extended by 30 minutes to accommodate the completion of 48 overs.
The two-match series part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) will run from August 21 to September 4 with both matches to be played at the same venue.
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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