RAWALPINDI: Vice-captain Saud Shakeel anchored through with an unbeaten half-century as Pakistan amassed 158/4 before the bad light forced early stumps on the opening day of the first Test against Bangladesh here on Wednesday.
Shakeel and wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan, unbeaten on 57 and 24 respectively, will now resume Pakistan’s first innings on the second day.
The duo did well to keep Pakistan on track with an unbeaten 44-run partnership after Bangladesh hit back with the prized scalp of Saim Ayub, who scored 56 off 98 deliveries with the help of four fours and a six.
Shakeel was involved in another crucial partnership for Pakistan when he added 98 runs for the fourth wicket with Saim.
Earlier, after being put into bat first, Pakistan got off to a disastrous start as they lost three wickets inside nine overs.
The opening Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh got off to 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.
Skipper Shan Masood (6) and star batter Babar Azam (0) fell prey to Shoriful Islam, leaving Pakistan reeling at 16-3.
Saim Ayub held on to one end before Saud joined him and together they helped Pakistan to recover with a solid partnership.
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 were supposed to be bowled today with the day expected to be extended by 30 minutes. However, the bad light truncated the action further, allowing only 41 years to be bowled.
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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.
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.
The first Test match against Bangladesh marks Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie’s first international assignment since his appointment in April this year.
This is also Shan Masood’s first Test match as captain on home soil, embarking on a new era in red-ball cricket for the team.
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: Saim Ayub scores his first-ever half-century in international cricket