Bangladesh fought back strongly on the third day of the opening Test against Pakistan as Mehidy Hasan Miraz produced another impressive bowling performance to hand the hosts a valuable first-innings lead at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur in Dhaka on Sunday.
The off-spinning all-rounder claimed 5 wickets for 102 runs, registering the 14th five-wicket haul of his Test career, as Pakistan were dismissed for 386 in reply to Bangladesh’s first-innings total. The Tigers ended the day with a narrow but important 27-run advantage after reaching seven without loss before stumps.
Pakistan resumed the day comfortably placed at 179-1, but Bangladesh’s bowlers made a remarkable turnaround after struggling on the previous day. Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed provided the early breakthrough by dismissing debut centurion Azan Awais, who made 103 in an impressive first Test innings. He followed it up quickly by removing Pakistan captain Shan Masood for just nine runs.
Miraz then took control of the innings with regular breakthroughs. He first dismissed Saud Shakeel for a duck before removing another debutant Abdullah Fazal, who played a fluent knock of 60. Fazal and Awais had earlier shared a solid 104-run partnership that threatened to put Pakistan in command.
At lunch, Pakistan team were reduced to 251-5, but Salman Agha and Mohammad Rizwan rebuilt the innings with a composed 119-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Both batters completed half-centuries and looked set to push Pakistan towards a substantial lead.
Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam eventually broke the stand by dismissing Rizwan for 59, while pacer Nahid Rana removed Salman Agha for 58 shortly afterwards to expose the lower order.
Miraz then cleaned up the tail by taking the wickets of Noman Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi before Taijul dismissed Hasan Ali to end Pakistan’s innings.
Bangladesh faced only 11 deliveries before bad light ended the day’s play, but the hosts will head into Day 4 with momentum firmly on their side.
