Daily Times

DHAKA: Off-spinner Sajid Khan’s maiden five-wicket haul for Pakistan brought some life back to the rain-hit second Test in Dhaka on Tuesday. Sajid’s 6-35 held Bangladesh to 76 before bad light forced early stumps on the first day at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Shakib Al Hasan was unbeaten on 23 alongside Taijul Islam (0) at stumps, with Bangladesh still needing 25 runs to avoid the follow-on. Mohammad Rizwan hit an unbeaten 53 while Fawad Alam added 50 not out as Pakistan declared their innings on 300-4 an hour into the post-lunch session. Sajid then took Mahmudul Hasan and Mehidy Hasan for ducks along with Shadman Islam (3), Mushfiqur Rahim (5), Liton Das (6) and Najmul Hossain (30), while skipper Mominul Haque was run out for one. Shakib fought back with some aggression of his own to hit three fours and survive a run out chance to give some small relief
for Bangladesh.

Captain Babar Azam “told every one of us to go for the win. Everyone did that. We attacked them and got rewarded,” Sajid said after the day’s play. “In the first match, the ball wasn’t turning like this. Even when the ball turned there, the batsmen got time to cope with it,” he added. “The plan is to get these three wickets, send them to bat again and then bowl them out again.” Only 63.2 overs of play were possible in the first three days because of rain and bad light, with Pakistan reaching 188-2 after electing to bat first. Pakistan lost two quick wickets early in the day after yet another delayed start following day three’s complete wash-out. Ebadot Hossain dismissed Azhar Ali for 56 runs in the second over of the day as wicketkeeper Liton Das took a simple catch after a top-edge. Pace bowler Khaled Ahmed trapped Azam leg-before for his maiden Test wicket three overs later and the Pakistan skipper was out for 76 runs, adding just five to his overnight 71.

Rizwan was given out twice, on zero and 12, off the bowling of Ebadot and Taijul Islam respectively, but on both occasions he survived on review. Taijul took the first two Pakistan wickets, on the opening day, before rain interrupted the game. Pakistan lead the two-Test series 1-0 after an eight-wicket win in Chittagong.