Image Credit- AP
Shifting gears, Mushfiqur Rahim produced his 11th Test century to lead Bangladesh through the first session of the fourth morning, cutting their deficit to 59 at lunch. Rahim did this by combining calculated aggressiveness and patience. Mushfiqur hit the gas after the drinks break, especially when Pakistan called on spin from both ends right before lunch, despite his poor start to the match with Litton Das.
After lunch, Mushfiqur and Mehidy Hasan Miraz put on a self-assured and undefeated stand of 57 runs in 16.1 overs. Despite the fact that the visitors were closing in on Pakistan’s 448, they were only four wickets ahead, meaning neither side was in the lead and the likelihood of a draw was increasing.
Bangladesh scored slowly in the opening hour of the fourth day, compared to the 67 runs they had scored in the final 11 overs of the third day. However, Mushfiqur and Mehidy then ramped up the pace to punish the hosts in the sweltering heat. When play began, Litton and Mushfiqur both adopted an incredibly patient strategy, and in the second over of the day, they both reached their century.
In their respective matches against Mohammad Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi, both batsmen frequently used the straight bat. The bowlers had little to gain from the pitch, so they easily guarded the length balls, squared them off when pitched short, and pushed them down the ground when pitched somewhat fuller.
When he used the angle from wide of the crease to trap Mushfiqur on 59, lbw, Ali gave Pakistan its first moment of joy; however, a review reversed the on-field judgement. Ali used movement off the field to jab aggressively at Mushfiqur just past the half-hour mark, trapping him in front of the leg stump, which caused the umpire to raise his finger. Nevertheless, Mushfiqur successfully reviewed using ball-tracker, which displayed the ball’s missing leg stump.
However, Pakistan didn’t have to wait long to get a wicket. A bowling change was necessary for success after Naseem Shah hit in the opening over of the day. Naseem added just four runs to his overnight total of 52, but unlike the other bowlers, he made rapid use of the short ball outside off that Litton failed to get on top of while attempting to cut, and edged behind to the wicketkeeper.
Pakistan would have felt they had a greater opportunity of seizing the lead when six batsmen were removed, but Mushfiqur and Mehidy spoilt their plans by increasing the run rate.
Mehidy’s style wasn’t as tight as Mushfiqur’s, but he scored runs without much risk, even against the bouncer of Khurram Shahzad. But, Mehidy rose to the occasion and responded with a neat pull on the following ball after Shahzad had again struck one short, setting up the first boundary of the day.
With a clever swerve through a gully and a punch through the covers, Mushfiqur punished Shahzad for two more fours in an over. In the next over, he also hit Afridi straight for four, helping the team go from 73 to 88 in just nine balls.
With 12 minutes remaining for lunch, Shan Masood used spin from both ends as Bangladesh’s lead was down to 78 and Pakistan was keen to get wickets; Mushfiqur then took advantage of the part-timers. Against Pakistan, he hit Saim Ayub for two consecutive fours, first against the turn over midwicket and then over the long-on rope, to reach 96. He then pushed one to the leg side for two in the following over, setting off wild celebrations for his first Test century.