Abid, Shafique give Pakistan solid start

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh: An unbroken opening century stand by Abid Ali and debutant Abdullah Shafique gave Pakistan a solid platform after bowling out Bangladesh for 330 on day two of the first Test in Chittagong on Saturday.

Ali closed in on his fourth Test century to stay unbeaten on 93 while Shafique was batting on 52 as Pakistan reached 145-0 at stumps, 185 shy of Bangladesh’s first-innings total.

“In the afternoon, it started to spin a bit. The ball was old. So it was gripping and doing a few other tricks. Our plan was that we have to stay at the wicket and utilise the bad balls,” Ali said after the day’s play.

Pace bowler Hasan Ali led Pakistan earlier with the ball, finishing with 5-51, his sixth five-wicket, which kept Bangladesh in check after the hosts resumed with 253-4 in the morning.

Liton Das top-scored with 114 for Bangladesh, adding just one run to his overnight score, while Mushfiqur Rahim, unbeaten on 82 at the end of the opening day’s play, fell for 91 runs.

Mehidy Hasan struck an unbeaten 38 to take Bangladesh past 300 before he claimed two wickets in two balls to bring an end to Bangladesh’s efforts with the bat.

“When we lost four wickets before lunch, everyone thought we would be bowled out early. Mushfiqur and I put together a good partnership,” said Liton.

“By the end of the day, we were thinking about a big total. But cricket is unpredictable. Pakistan are in a good position now. If we can take two or three wickets tomorrow morning, we will be back on par.”

Pakistan had Bangladesh on the ropes on day one at 49-4 but the hosts fought back thanks to Liton and Mushfiqur.

Pakistan looked sharp right from the start of the second day’s play when Hasan trapped Liton leg-before in the second over of the morning.

Struck on his backfoot, Liton was initially given not out but Pakistan successfully reviewed the decision.

Liton, who shared 206 runs with Mushfiqur in the fifth wicket, hit 11 fours and a six in his 233-ball innings.

Hasan then dismissed Yasir Ali for four with a fine in-swinger that rattled the leg and middle stumps of the debutant.

Faheem took a thin edge from the bat of Mushfiqur, effectively ending Bangladesh’s chance for a big total.

Mushfiqur struck 11 fours in his 225-ball stay at the crease.

Score Board

Bangladesh won the toss

Bangladesh 1st innings

Shadman Islam lbw b Hasan Ali 14

Saif Hassan c Abid Ali b Shaheen 14

Najmul c Sajid b Faheem 14

Mominul (c) c †Rizwan b Sajid 6

Mushfiqur c †Rizwan b Faheem 91

Liton Das† lbw b Hasan 114

Yasir Ali b Hasan Ali 4

Mehidy not out 38

Taijul c Abdullah b Shaheen 11

Abu Jayed c Abdullah b Hasan 8

Ebadot b Hasan 0

Extras: (lb 14, nb 1, w 1) 16

Total: (114.4 Ov, RR: 2.87) 330

Fall: 1-19, 4.3 ov 2-33, 7.6 ov 3-47, 15.1 ov 4-49, 16.2 ov 5-255, 86.6 ov 6-267, 92.3 ov 7-276, 98.5 ov 8-304, 106.4 ov 9-330, 114.3 ov 10-330, 114.4 ov

Bowling: Shaheen Shah Afridi 27-8-70-2 Hasan Ali 20.4-5-51-5 Faheem Ashraf 14-2-54-2 Sajid Khan 27-5-79-1 Nauman Ali 26-6-62-0

Pakistan 1st Innings

Abid Ali not out 93

Abdullah Shafique not out 52

Extras: 0

Total: (57 Ov, RR: 2.54) 145

Yet to bat: Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (c), Fawad Alam, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Rizwan †, Nauman Ali, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sajid Khan

Bowling: Abu Jayed 10-0-30-0 Ebadot Hossain 12-3-31-0 Taijul Islam 19-5-39-0 Mehidy Hasan Miraz 13-4-33-0 Mominul Haque 3-0-12-0

Test Debut: Abdullah Shafique (PAK), Yasir Ali (BANG)

Umpires: Michael Gough, Sharfuddoula