DHAKA: Off-spinner Sajid Khan claimed 4-86 and finished with a match haul of 12 wickets as Pakistan defied fading light and broke Bangladesh’s stubborn resistance to secure an innings and eight-run victory and take the two-Test series 2-0 in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Bangladesh were forced to follow-on after being wrapped up for 87 in the first innings — their lowest score on home soil — and were bowled out for 205 as Pakistan bowlers claimed 13 wickets on a frenetic final day of the rain-hit second Test at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.

With the light gradually fading, Bangladesh’s last-wicket pair of Taijul Islam and Ebadot Hossain resisted for 34 balls to raise a hope of salvaging the Test.

But Sajid broke the partnership, dismissing Taijul leg-before to help Pakistan win the game.

“The team, the captain trusted me to do the job,” man-of-the-match Sajid said. “The plan was to go for the win, and we tried to keep it tight and bowl on one spot. The entire team gets credit for their effort.”

Pakistan declared their first innings at 300-4 after only 63.2 overs were possible in the first three days because of rain and bad light. The third day was entirely washed out and only 6.2 overs were possible on Day 2.

Resuming on 76-7, Bangladesh were quickly dismissed.

Sajid struck in his first over of the morning to trap Taijul leg before for a duck before Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled Khaled Ahmed for none in the next over.

Shakib Al Hasan was the last man dismissed when he holed out a catch to Azhar Ali at short cover off Sajid after making 33 runs, the highest in Bangladesh’s first innings. Sajid finished with 8-42, the fourth-best total by a Pakistani bowler in an innings.

After Pakistan captain Babar Azam forced the follow-on, fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi (2-31) and Hasan Ali (2-37) then got into act with the new ball, leaving Bangladesh 25-4.

But Bangladesh raised a bit hope as Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das combined for 73 runs in 25 overs before Sajid rattled the stump of Liton for 45.

Shakib joined Mushfiqur and added 49 runs before the latter was run out for 48 after trying for a risky single.

Shakib and Mehidy Hasan then frustrated the Pakistani attack with a 51-run partnership for the seventh wicket. But Bangladesh’s hopes were dashed when Babar came to bowl and got the breakthrough with his off-spin as Mehidy went for sweep and was trapped leg-before.

“I felt that I needed to bowl at that stage and really happy I got that wicket,” said Babar of his maiden Test wicket.

Sajid then broke through the defence of Shakib in the next over to bowl him out. He also took the final two wickets when the light started dimming, which prevented Pakistan’s fast bowlers from bowling at the tail-enders.

“Our batsmen and especially openers gave us a good start and our mindset was just to dominate despite the bad weather,” Babar added.

“And the way Sajid bowled, that brought us into the game and gave us momentum. The ground staff prepared the wicket very well and covered the ground and ensured we got enough time for the result, I really appreciate their efforts.”

Shakib was his side’s top second-innings scorer with 63, becoming only the sixth player to complete a double of 4,000 runs and 200 wickets in Tests. He’s the fastest to achieve the feat, in 59 Tests to eclipse the mark of England’s Ian Botham of 69.

“It was a disappointing performance, particularly our batting. There’s no excuse. We batted poorly,” Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque said.

“In the second innings we had an opportunity to play better than the first. The top four were not good. We lost seven wickets in one session on the fourth day. We are making the same mistakes again. It was tough to bat out there but although some of our senior players played well, we couldn’t hang on.”

It was Bangladesh’s 93rd Test loss in 123 matches, with 44 of them coming by an innings margin.

Pakistan opener Abid Ali was adjudged player of the series for his tally of 263 runs in three innings.

Pakistan won the first Test in Chittagong by eight wickets. They finished the tour unbeaten, having won the preceding three-match Twent20 series 3-0.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st innings) 300-4 declared (Babar Azam 72, Azhar Ali 56, Mohammad Rizwan 53 not out, Fawad Alam 50 not out)

BANGLADESH (1st innings; overnight 76-7):

Shadman Islam c Hasan b Sajid 3

Mahmudul Hasan c Babar b Sajid 0

Najmul Hossain lbw b Sajid 30

Mominul Haque run out 1

Mushfiqur Rahim c Alam b Sajid 5

Liton Das c & b Sajid 6

Shakib Al Hasan c Azhar b Sajid 33

Mehidy Hasan b Sajid 0

Taijul Islam lbw b Sajid 0

Khaled Ahmed b Shaheen 0

Ebadot Hossain not out 0

EXTRAS (B-5 LB-3, NB-1) 9

TOTAL (all out, 32 overs) 87

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1 (Mahmudul), 2-20 (Shadman), 3-22 (Mominul), 4-31 (Mushfiqur), 5-46 (Liton), 6-65 (Najmul), 7-71 (Mehidy), 8-76 (Taijul), 9-77 (Khaled).

BOWLING: Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-3-3-1, Nauman Ali 12-2-33-0 (nb1), Sajid Khan

15-4-42-8, Babar 1-0-1-0.

BANGLADESH (2nd innings):

Shadman Islam lbw b Shaheen 2

Mahmudul Hasan b Hasan 6

Najmul Hossain c Fawad b Afridi 6

Mominul Haque lbw b Hasan 7

Mushfiqur Rahim run out 48

Liton Das c Fawad b Sajid 45

Shakib Al Hasan b Sajid 63

Mehidy Hasan lbw b Babar 14

Taijul Islam lbw b Sajid Khan 5

Khaled Ahmed c Rizwan b Sajid 0

Ebadot Hossain not out 0

EXTRAS (B-8, LB-1) 9

TOTAL(all out; 84.4 overs) 205

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Mahmudul), 2-12 (Shadman), 3-19 (Mominul), 4-25 (Najmul), 5-98 (Liton), 6-147 (Mushfiqur), 7-198 (Mehidy), 8-200 (Shakib), 9-204 (Khaled).

BOWLING: Shaheen 15-5-31-2, Hasan Ali 11-3-37-2, Nauman 20-5-41-0, Faheem Ashraf 4-4-0-0, Sajid 32.4-8-86-4, Babar 2-1-1-1.

RESULT: Pakistan won by innings and eight runs.

SERIES: Pakistan won 2-0.

UMPIRES: Michael Gough (England) and Sharfuddoula (Bangladesh).

TV UMPIRE: Gazi Sohel (Bangladesh).

MATCH REFEREE: Neeyamur Rashid (Bangladesh).

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Sajid Khan (Pakistan).

PLAYER-OF-THE-SERIES: Abid Ali (Pakistan).

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2021