Image Credit- AP
In the first session of the final day, Bangladesh’s bowlers claimed five wickets to increase their chances of winning an uncommon away Test match. With two sessions remaining, they leveraged the confidence that Mushfiqur Rahim’s 191 strokes on Saturday infused into their campaign to gain the upper hand.
Pakistan was nine behind with just four wickets remaining after losing Saim Ayub to Shoriful Islam on the fourth evening. Later in the morning, Bangladesh’s other spinners combined to remove five more frontline batsmen in a span of 26 overs. Due to the overs lost to rain on the first day, the two remaining sessions will be prolonged.
At 65 for 2, Pakistan appeared quite stable until they lost a quick succession of wickets, which included the dismissal of Babar Azam for 22. Ducks were also caught by Agha Salman and Saud Shakeel.
When Babar edged one on just his second ball of the day, early in the morning, Litton Das could have held on to the diving catch to his right and bashed a pair as well. With a few runs and boundaries, Babar gained confidence, but after he was caught for 22, the hosts were in serious trouble as Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique, and Agha Salman fell to the spin combo of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan.
The ball, which was almost 10 overs old, wasn’t swinging as much in the morning as it had the night before, but Shan Masood was dismissed early after edging a ball behind Hasan Mahmud outside off. As in the previous innings, Bangladesh reviewed and saw the decision reversed due to a spike on UltraEdge, which infuriated Masood once more. The on-field umpire had not given it out.
Babar stole a ball from Shoriful, but Litton was unable to repeat the diving catch he had made in the first innings to remove Babar, even though it was down leg. Remaining composed at the other end, Babar punished a few of the loose deliveries that followed for boundaries, seizing the opportunity.
Short balls that frequently reached speeds beyond 145 kmph were blasted by Nahid Rana to put Babar on the back foot. He next pitched one up outside off, which Babar couldn’t get his feet to move fast enough to avoid, and it was chopped on for 22. With stump-to-stump lines, Shakib restrained Pakistan from the other end, and the pressure paid off in the next over when Shakeel attempted to negotiate the turn but failed and was left stumped for a duck.
Although the playing conditions were the same as they had been the day before, Bangladesh’s intention in altering their bowling strategy and field placements was what allowed them to take wickets. Even though it was risky, Pakistan’s first-innings centurion, Mohammad Rizwan, walked out and erased a significant portion of that deficit with a counterattacking innings while his team was still behind by fifty runs.
The next over saw 26 runs scored in two overs thanks to boundaries from Shafique (44) and Rizwan (slog sweep) on a short ball from Shakib (16). This reduced the margin to just 16 runs.
Shafique, who had been patient on the other end, then gave up the wicket, giving Bangladesh the upper hand once more. He moved down the pitch and attempted a heave over mid-off with just over three overs remaining for lunch, only to give Shadman Islam a leading edge at backward point. Mehidy, the guy who had taken Nahid’s place, produced an enticing offbreak two balls later, drawing Salman, the new batsman, forward to defend and drawing his outside edge. Salman’s stay was short lived as Shadman made a clean catch at slip with a dive to his left this time.
Before lunch, a more reserved Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi completed the final 16 deliveries, though not without some difficult moments. After a boisterous LBW shout against Shakib, Afridi made it through a review in which ball-tracking revealed the twisting ball was going past his stumps. In the latter stages of the session, Rizwan also had a stumping appeal against him, but his foot was inside the crease.
Pakistan, who hasn’t won a Test match at home since February 2021, is currently facing another loss. They have since suffered four losses and five draws.