Chattogram Test: Pakistan off to strong reply as Abid nears a century

Pakistan off to a strong reply to Bangladesh’s first innings total of 330 in the Chattogram Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. At the end of day two on Saturday, Pakistan posted 145 without losing any wicket.

Abid Ali and the debutant opener Abdullah Shafique remained unbeaten for 93 and 52 respectively. Abid needs seven more runs to complete his fourth century in Test cricket.

Bangladesh lost six wickets in the first session of the day, in the next sessions, Pakistan did what Bangladesh did in the same period of the first day— did not lose any wicket.

Shafique survived an lbw— Pakistan’s only worry in the innings. Barring that, Bangladesh failed to create even a half-chance. The debutant reached fifty in his maiden Test innings with a six.

Bangladesh fielded only four specialist bowlers— two pacers and two spinners. Abu Jayed Rahi is leading the pace attack with Ebadot Hossain, and Taijul Islam is leading the spin attack with Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque used himself as the fifth bowler and bowled three overs without a bit of luck.

To make a comeback in the match, Bangladesh needs to bowl out their opponent as fast as possible on the third day.

Earlier, Bangladesh lost their last six wickets only adding 77 runs to their overnight total. They were at 253 for four at the end of day one. Lion Das, who had been going through a bad patch, came up with his maiden Test ton while Mushfiqur Rahim fell short of nine runs from another Test century.

Mushfiqur’s dismissal was a questionable call from the third umpire. Faheem Ashraf’s delivery was landed at the back of a length at the off stump. Mushfiqur tried to push it gently, but the ball seemed to touch his bat and reached the wicketkeeper. The umpire called it out, and Mushfiqur went for a review immediately.

The TV replays showed that there were sounds from two different sources— it was not decisively clear whether one source was the connection between ball and bat.

Bangladesh fielded the debutant batter Yasir Ali Rabbi in this match. But he failed to grab the chance in the first instance. He played 19 balls and only returned four runs.

Hasan Ali, the right-arm pacer, bagged five wickets conceding 51 runs. It was his sixth five-wicket haul in Tests. Shaheen Afridi and Faheem Ashraf took two wickets each for them as well.

With this Test, Bangladesh started the second cycle of the ICC World Test Championship. The second Test of this two-match series will be played in Dhaka from December 4.

In the last World Test championship, Bangladesh played seven Tests and lost six of them, and the other one ended in a draw. After this series, Bangladesh will travel to New Zealand for a two-match Test series.