PAK vs BAN 2024, PAK vs BAN 1st Test Match Report, August 21 – 25, 2024

Tea Bangladesh 199 for 4 (Shadman 93, Mushfiqur 15*) trail Pakistan 448 for 6 dec by 249 runs

The wicket encapsulated Pakistan’s main route to success against Bangladesh’s predominantly left-handed top order through the day: it was the third time that one of their seamers, bowling around the wicket, had got the ball to nip in from a fullish length and bowl someone through the gate. Mohammad Ali was the successful bowler on this occasion, getting Shadman to attempt a push-drive away from his body. Khurram Shahzad had been the architect behind the two other wickets of this type.

At tea, Bangladesh were 199 for 4, trailing Pakistan’s first-innings total by 249 runs.

This was also the second significant moment to coincide with the last ball before a break. Shadman had brought up his half-century on the stroke of lunch with a pulled four off Naseem Shah, and that moment had seemed to illustrate a shift of momentum in Bangladesh’s direction, coinciding with the ball losing its shine and batting becoming significantly easier.

Naseem had been the pick of Pakistan’s bowlers in the early part of the day, maintaining a hypnotic control over line and length against Bangladesh’s entirely left-handed top four while conceding just 15 off his first 12 overs. But he conceded three fours in his last two overs before lunch. Mominul Haque had hit the other two, off successive balls: a cheeky uppercut over the slips followed by a premeditated step back and across to flat-bat a marginally short-of-length ball wide of mid-on.

Shadman and an eye-catchingly fluent Mominul put on 94 for the third wicket, before Shahzad broke the partnership in the fourth over after lunch. Shahzad had generally bowled a fuller length than Pakistan’s other three quicks, and drawn Bangladesh’s batters onto the front foot more often. On this occasion, Mominul wasn’t quite fully forward while defending, and Shahzad extracted just enough seam movement to breach the bat-pad gap.

Pakistan twice came close to getting an lbw soon after this, with Shahzad reviewing a not-out call off an inducker against Mushfiqur Rahim and Shadman reviewing an out call against a slider from the offspinner Salman Ali Agha. Both reviews went Bangladesh’s way.

As the session wore on, Shadman began to look dangerous, rushing from 64 to 93 in just 25 balls, hitting six fours in that time, before Ali found a way past – or, more accurately, through – him.

Shadman had had to earn his right to shift to that higher gear. Resuming on 27 for no loss, Bangladesh scored just 12 runs in 12 overs before the first drinks break, losing Zakir Hasan along the way. Naseem and Shaheen Shah Afridi were relentless with their probing in the channel and found enough movement to imperil on-the-up shots, and Bangladesh’s top three resisted them for most part through a combination of skill, judgment and a bit of luck.

Pakistan made their breakthrough in the fifth over of the day, however, when Naseem’s angle across the left-hander, and a bit of away seam movement and extra bounce, coaxed Zakir into a hard-hands push away from the body. Mohammad Rizwan – back as keeper after going off the field with cramps late on day two – flew to his left to complete the catch off the edge.

Runs flowed slightly quicker when the third and fourth seamers came on, and Najmul Hossain Shanto drove Shahzad crisply for fours through mid-off and extra-cover when he overpitched. But those were marginal errors from Shahzad as he bowled to a plan, bringing Shanto forward with fuller lengths while angling the ball into him from round the wicket. Having habituated Shanto into front-foot drives and blocks into the cover region with a slightly open bat face, he pulled his length back slightly and got one to nip back in off the seam and bowl him comprehensively through the gate.

Bangladesh were 53 for 2, and the seven overs before the next drinks break brought Shadman and Mominul just 12 runs.

Through all this, Shadman batted with poise, except for a couple of ungainly moments against the short ball when he top-edged pulls off Mohammad Ali and Shahzad, the ball falling safely in front of the long leg fielder both times.

As hard as Pakistan were pushing, however, the three-hour first session, as mandated by Friday’s revised timings, was always going to be a test for them on a 35-degree day in Rawalpindi. Having gone without a boundary through the first two hours of the day, Shadman found his release when Shaheen served up a pair of freebies in the 24th over of the morning, driving a half-volley to the cover boundary and punching a full-toss back past the bowler. Then he stepped out to Agha in the next over and drilled him through the covers for another boundary to enter the 40s.

As good as Bangladesh’s batters looked during these phases of dominance, Pakistan always knew they were bowling with the cushion of a sizeable first-innings total.