Pakistan strike early as Bangladesh close in on 448-run total on fourth day
- Naseem Shah takes Litton Das’s wicket at 56.
- Bangladesh strive to reach 448-run total.
- Pakistan declared their innings at 448-6.
Pakistan on Saturday got an early breakthrough after Naseem Shah bagged the wicket of Litton Das as Bangladesh strive towards reaching the national side’s 448-run total during the fourth day of the first Test being played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Bangladesh’s veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim (67*) and Das (56) continued their innings from 316-5 today, however, the latter fell prey to Shah and was caught behind while attempting to play a shot outside off stump.
Currently, Bangladesh are at 333-6 trailing behind 115 runs in the first innings.
A day earlier, the visitors put up a valiant fight on the third day after losing two early wickets of Zakir Hasan and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto courtesy of Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque’s partnership.
The guests began their innings at 27 for no loss at the start of the third day. However, in the fifth over of day three, which was 17th overall, Hasan tried to play a shot at cover, but he got an outside edge on Naseem Shah’s delivery and Mohammad Rizwan took a brilliant catch to end his innings.
Soon after Hasan’s dismissal, the hosts got another breakthrough with Khurram Shahzad removing skipper Shanto’s stumps, leaving the visitors at 53-2 in 27 overs.
Pakistan managed to get wickets later in the day as Shahzad removed Haque (50 off 76) while Mohammad Ali bowled Islam out for 93 runs.
Saim Ayub provided another breakthrough to Pakistan by removing the experienced Shakib Al Hasan but Rahim and Das formed a 98-run partnership which strengthened their grip on the Test.
It is to be noted that the Shaan Masood-led side had declared their innings on the second day at 448-6 while Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi were still on the crease.
