Banglawash!

Bangladesh made history in Pakistan's soul

September 03, 2024
Bangladesh are winners of the Bank Alfalah Presents Blue World City Pakistan vs Bangladesh Test Series 2024
  • 2-0 seris win Bangladesh

A historic 2-0 clean sweep against Pakistan in the Test series was achieved by Bangladesh thanks to significant contributions from their top six players. In the second session, Bangladesh, behind 185 to win, crossed the boundary thanks to the combined expertise of Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan. Bangladesh began Day 5 of the second Test in Rawalpindi at 42/0. The 2-0 victory was Bangladesh's second overseas series win (minimum two matches in a series), with their first coming against West Indies (2-0) back in 2009. This was also Bangladesh's first series win against Pakistan.

Shadman Islam's confident punch for a boundary off Mohammad Ali, off the second ball, got Bangladesh going on the final day. Meanwhile, the Pakistan pacers also bowled good lines and had the openers on their toes. There were some play-and-misses and also a bottom edge off Zakir Hasan's bat in Mohammad Ali's over which wasn't picked by the home team as they failed to appeal. The openers extended their partnership past fifty, raising Bangladesh's first fifty-plus opening stand since December 2022. Zakir made a well-compiled 40 but his outing was cut short by Mir Hamza who got one to hold the line, beat the outside edge and have him bowled.

Pakistan's disciplined bowling meant run-scoring wasn't easy for the Bangladesh batters. After three successive maidens, Shadman put away a full delivery on the pads from Hamza for a four. He also got a lucky break in Hamza's next over as Agha Salman put down a tough chance diving to his left from second slip. In the same over, Shadman put away a short ball past cover for another four. But he had to depart when he handed a catch at mid off attempting to drive a Khurram Shahzad delivery.

A good partnership between Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque ensued, keeping Bangladesh on track in the chase. An edgy boundary from Mominul and a couple of well-timed fours by Najmul got Bangladesh's target below 100. After a slow start, Najmul and Mominul grew in confidence and the older ball helped too as they collected boundaries. Najmul even gave the charge to Hamza and got away with three runs after a miscued shot. The third wicket pair extended their stand past 50, bringing the equation down to 63 at Lunch, with 80 runs coming in the first session off 27 overs.

At the start of the second session, the groundsmen were getting the covers ready beyond the boundary ropes, perhaps anticipating some rain. Pakistan, meanwhile, began in tidy fashion with Salman and Hamza bowling a couple of maidens. Najmul then provided some urgency with a reverse-swept four off Salman. But he fell soon after, handing a catch to short leg, ending a 57-run second wicket stand. Mominul cut away a short ball in the same over and Rahim was busy from the start of his innings, picking up singles and twos, bringing the target below 50. Hamza found the outside edge of Mominul's bat but the ball travelled through the vacant second slip region for a four.

Pakistan reviewed twice in Abrar Ahmed's over but Rahim survived both times, with replays revealing a spike when he tried to sweep. Pakistan kept it tight, even as the overhead conditions darkened a bit, as Bangladesh reached 150. Trying to force the pace, Mominul (34) miscued to mid off, as Abrar picked up his first wicket of the match. Abrar troubled Shakib at the start of his innings but the left-hander settled down and rotated the strike along with Rahim, as Bangladesh inched closer. Abrar was warned twice for landing on the danger area of the pitch and was also hit for a straight six by Shakib. After a few singles, Rahim top-edged a pull off Ali for a boundary before Shakib hit the winning boundary, off Abrar, as the Bangladesh dressing room went ecstatic in celebrations.

The platform for Bangladesh's victory was set up by Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz on Days 2 and 3. After the opening day's play was washed out completely, Bangladesh put Pakistan in to bat on Day 2 and saw them get off to a good start, with Shan Masood and Saim Ayub scoring fifties. Bangladesh, though, hit back with regular wickets and despite Salman scoring a fifty, they managed to restrict Pakistan to 274 in their first essay. Bangladesh's reply began disastrously as they were reduced to 26/6 with Shahzad running through the batting order.

But Litton's 138 and his 165-run seventh wicket stand with Mehidy (78) helped Bangladesh finish close to Pakistan's total as the hosts got a lead of 12. Bangladesh stepped up with the ball brilliantly on Day 4, bowling Pakistan out for 172 thanks to Hasan Mahmud's maiden five-wicket haul and a career-best 4 for 44 from Nahid Rana. Bangladesh were off the blocks quickly in the latter part of Day 4 with Zakir playing positively. But bad light and rain combined to bring an early end to the penultimate day. Bangladesh had one eye on the skies on the final day, with thunderstorms forecast for Tuesday. But the weather gods were kind enough to keep the rain away, and the top order came to the party, paving the way for a clinical Bangladesh win.

Brief scores: Pakistan 274 (Saim Ayub 58, Shan Masood 57; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-61, Taskin Ahmed 3-57) & 172 (Agha Salman 47*, Mohammad Rizwan 43; Hasan Mahmud 5-43, Nahid Rana 4-44) lost to Bangladesh 262 (Litton Das 138, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 78; Khurram Shahzad 6-90, Agha Salman 2-13) & 185/4 (Zakir Hasan 40, Najmul Hossain Shanto 38; Agha Salman 1-17) by 6 wickets.