RAWALPINDI: Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan played a quick knock to put 42 runs on the board without a loss before bad light forced an early closure on Day 4 of the second Test against Pakistan.
Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam will resume their innings at 31 and nine respectively with Bangladesh needing 148 runs to sweep the series on Day 5.
Prior to that, Hasan Mahmud led the bowling attack with his maiden five-wicket haul to help Bangladesh bundle Pakistan for a meagre 172 in the second innings.
Salman Ali Agha remained Pakistan’s top-scorer with an unbeaten 47 from 71 balls, laced with seven boundaries and one six.
He added a crucial 27-run partnership with last man Mir Hamza (4), who became Hasan Mahmud’s fifth scalp.
Other than Hasan, Nahid Rana was the key bowler for Bangladesh with the figures of 4-44.
Pakistan lost Mohammad Rizwan early in the second session as he got caught behind off Hasan’s delivery. Rizwan scored a gutsy 43 off 73.
Mohammad Ali fell on the first ball, while Abrar managed to play 12 balls before Nahid Rana got rid of him, bringing Mir Hamza to the crease.
Earlier, Bangladesh pacers wreaked havoc in the first session, taking four key wickets to leave Pakistan reeling at 117-6 at Lunch on Day 4.
Mohammad Rizwan launched Pakistan’s recovery with an unbeaten 38 amidst a breathtaking spell of pace bowling by Bangladesh bowlers. Meanwhile, Salman Ali Agha was unbeaten at seven when the Lunch was called.
Saim Ayub and captain Shan Masood started the fourth day’s play with the scoreboard reading 9-2.
The two batters started positively with boundaries and regular intervals before Taskin Ahmed removed Saim after he had scored 20 off 35.
Shan soon followed his partner as he got caught behind off Nahid Rana. The Pakistan captain scored 28 runs from 34 balls.
Nahid dismissed Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel in his next two overs as Pakistan slipped to 81-6.
Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha then joined hands to help the team recover, with the former scoring the bulk of runs to avoid further damage before lunch.
Pakistan had lost opening batter Abdullah Shafique and nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad in the dying minutes of the third day.
Prior to that, Salman Ali Agha took the final two wickets, including top-scorer Litton Das, to book Bangladesh for 262.
Khurram led Pakistan’s bowling charts with figures of 6-90, while Mir Hamza and Salman bagged two each.
Litton scored a gutsy century as he singlehandedly Bangladesh’s total from 193 to 262, courtesy of a 69-run stand with Hassan Mehmud (13).
The wicketkeeper top-scored with 138 runs from 228 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and four sixes.
He was unbeaten at 83 as Bangladesh went to Tea with 193-8 on the board after dominating the second session against Pakistan.
Litton along with Mehidy Hasan Miraz helped Bangladesh recover from 26-6 as they stitched a partnership of 165 runs, scoring their individual half-centuries.
They attacked Pakistani bowlers and scored boundaries across all parts of the ground before Khurram caught and bowled Mehidy.
The all-rounder departed after scoring 78 runs from 124 balls with the help of twelve boundaries and one six. Meanwhile, Taskin Ahmed also fell to Khurram on the stroke of Tea on Day 3.
Earlier, Bangladesh openers Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan started the day with 10/0 on the board.
However, they could not add much to the total as Khurram Shahzad bowled a brilliant spell of classic pace bowling, leaving the Bangladesh batters completely bewildered.
In just the fourth over of the day, he took out Zakir with a skilful delivery on the last ball courtesy of an easy catch by Abrar Ahmed.
On the first ball of his next over, Khurram cleaned up Shadman with an inswinger. He missed the hat trick but he castled Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto in the same over.
Mir Hamza also joined the party as he dismissed Mominul Haque in the next over.
Bangladesh veterans Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan then fell prey to Mir and Khurram respectively with the scoreboard reading 26-6.
Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz showed resistance as they knitted a gutsy 49-run stand for the seventh wicket to push the team’s total to 75-6 runs at the end of the first session without further damage.
Earlier on Day 2, Bangladesh bowlers bowled out Pakistan on 274, with Mehidy Hasan Miraz leading the pack.
Mehidy was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh with a five-fer, followed by Taskin Ahmed, who bagged three wickets. Nahid Rana and Shakib Al Hasan shared two wickets between them.
From Pakistan, Salman Ali Agha offered a notable fight against the momentum-filled Bangladesh bowling attack with his 54 off 95 deliveries, laced up with three fours and two sixes.
Prior to that, Pakistan found themselves in a state of bother when Taskin Ahmed cleaned up their right-handed opener Abdullah Shafique a duck with an in-dipper.
Following the early hiccup, Masood joined Ayub in the middle and launched an astounding recovery.
The pair batted sensibly against in-form Bangladesh bowlers with Masood leading the charge.
Masood scored 57 off 69 deliveries with the help of two boundaries, while Ayub played a 58-run knock which featured four fours and two sixes.
For the unversed, the opening day of the second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh was called off due to persistent rain here on Friday.
Playing XIs
Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mominul Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana.
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Abrar Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Khurram Shahzad.
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