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Bangladesh 262 (Litton 138, Mehidy 78, Shahzad 6-90) and 185 for 4 (Zakir 40, Agha 1-17) beat Pakistan 274 (Ayub 58, Masood 57, Agha 54, Mehidy 5-61, Taskin 3-57) and 172 (Agha 47*, Mahmud 5-43, Rana 4-44) by six wickets
On what will go down as a red-letter day in Bangladesh’s cricket history, their batters stood tall with important contributions right through as they inflicted a 2-0 clean sweep over Pakistan with a six-wicket win on the fifth afternoon in Rawalpindi.
For Pakistan, it added to their misery, with this loss extending their winless run at home to ten Tests. Since a win against South Africa in early February 2021, they have had four draws and six defeats, which include series defeats to Australia, England and now Bangladesh.
Heading into the second session, Bangladesh required 63 runs with eight wickets in hand. Shanto tried a few reverse sweeps and even got a four through backward point but failed to carry on for long. It was the softest of dismissals, with him bunting a straight delivery from Salman Agha to Abdullah Shafique at short leg.
Mominul, who was mostly sedate in the first session, got busy after Shanto fell. He cut Agha through point before getting another four off Mir Hamza, albeit off an edge. By then, Pakistan were desperate for wickets and burnt two reviews in two balls for lbw appeals against Mushfiqur; there was an inside edge onto the pad both times.
In the morning, Bangladesh resumed from 42 for no loss. Shadman Islam began with a crisp square cut to get things going but the Pakistan bowlers dictated the terms for the first 45 minutes. Mohammad Ali should have had Zakir’s wicket when the batter went after a good-length ball outside off and seemingly missed it. Replays showed there was a bottom edge but none of the fielders appealed.
Zakir didn’t last long, though. Hamza, who had found the right spot on good length outside off, got a ball to angle in from the over-the-wicket line. It beat Zakir’s outside edge and took the top of off stump.
Hamza and Ali bowled a string of dot balls, ensuring no easy runs. When Shanto finally got off the mark off his tenth ball, it was the first runs in 25 deliveries. Hamza then induced a thick outside edge off Shadman’s bat but it flew to the left of Agha at second slip. He made a valiant effort, diving one-handed, but failed to latch on. It would have been a regulation catch for third slip, but that position was left vacant.
Shadman failed to make much of the reprieve, falling eight balls later to a loose drive. Khurram Shahzad bowled one full outside off, with the opener driving on the up and straight to a pumped-up Shan Masood.
But Shanto and Mominul quashed Pakistan’s hopes of a comeback. The hosts did have their chances, drawing the odd edge but the ball evaded the fielders. Shanto and Mominul knew time wasn’t the issue, and they got the target down slowly.
Shanto still took the aggressive route a few times, like uppishly flicking Ali through midwicket and then smashing Shahzad down the ground, but Mominul was content with singles. The only time Mominul showed some aggression was when he slog-swept Abrar through midwicket for four.
Masood rung in the changes and brought back Hamza, but Shanto and Mominul managed to survive till lunch. Pakistan did dislodge the duo eventually, but there weren’t enough runs to defend, and they went down in front of a sparse home crowd.
Ashish Pant is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
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