ISLAMABAD: On a surface created to assist fast bowlers, it was the Pakistan batters who dominated.

Having recovered from early wobbles to set a foundation on the opening day of the first Test against Bangladesh here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan smashed big centuries to boost the hosts to 448-6, before captain Shan Masood decided to declare the innings, on Thursday.

On the close of the second day’s play, Bangladesh had put 27 on the board without losing a wicket. The visitors, however, have a huge task at hand to ensure they turn the match in their control.

Pakistan had started the day at 158-4, with Saud and Rizwan on 57 and 24 respectively.

The left-handed Saud — who became highest run-scorer for the country in 20 innings on the first day — went on to amass 141 off 261 balls (nine fours). Rizwan, meanwhile, cruised to 171 off 239 (11 fours and three sixes), before ending up unbeaten.

Saud and Rizwan’s partnership accounted for 250 runs, one of Pakistan’s highest-ever stands for the fifth wicket.

“In partnerships, the idea is to build a big one, and similarly, in bowling, partnerships matter,” Saud said in the post-day press conference. “When playing, if one partner is in form, you might sometimes slow down if the other side is aggressive.

“We read the game and adapt. For instance, if Rizwan’s shots were working, I might choose to play more defensively. This is how conversations and game reading work.”

Rizwan was dropped by wicket-keeper Litton Das off Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s bowling while playing at 89 in the second session. He went on to smash a towering six and a four off Shakib Al Hasan to bring up his third Test century in just 143 balls.

The right-hander crossed the 150-run mark after launching Shoriful Islam’s pace into the stands with authority.

Saud was on the slightly slower side, taking 195 balls to complete his third Test ton in just 11 matches, but showed immense control over spin bowling especially, hardly giving any chances to Bangladesh, before becoming Mehidy’s victim.

The leg-spinner beat Saud masterfully to have him stumped, but the wicket did not give the visitors much more than just a short-lived boost of energy before Rizwan and the incoming Shaheen took Pakistan to a total they could feel comfortable with.

“The ball was moving early on (Wednesday) but if you look at Bangladesh’s bowling they bowled short of length and had they pitched it up they would have got more success,” said Saud. “Let our bowlers bowl tomorrow then we can have a final say on the pitch.”

The pitch, which offered movement and bounce in the first session of the match, had clearly turned out to be a batting paradise. And that remained the case when Bangladesh started their innings.

Their openers Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan looked comfortable against the Pakistan pace spearheads Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Fast-bowler Khurram Shahzad looked a bit threatening, but before he could make a difference, stumps were called.

Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp hoped his batters match their opponents.

“It’s a pretty good batting pitch and we hope it continues like this,” said Hemp, a former Bermuda player. “Our batters need to match Pakistan’s batters and we need to get closer to Pakistan’s total.”

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings):
Abdullah Shafique c Zakir b Hasan2
Saim Ayub c Mehidy b Hasan56
Shan Masood c Litton b Shoriful6
Babar Azam c Litton b Shoriful0
Saud Shakeel st Litton b Mehidy141
Mohammad Rizwan not out171
Salman Ali Agha c Mehidy b Shakib19
Shaheen Shah Afridi not out29

EXTRAS (B-12, LB-4, NB-7, W-1)24
TOTAL (for six wkts decl, 113 overs)448
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-3 (Abdullah), 2-14 (Shan), 3-16 (Babar), 4-114 (Saim), 5-354 (Saud), 6-398 (Salman) DID NOT BAT: Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali
BOWLING: Shoriful 23-4-77-2, Hasan 23-4-70-2, Nahid 19-0-105-0 (3nb), Mehidy 21-1-80-1, Shakib 27-3-100-1 (1w, 4nb)

BANGLADESH (1st Innings):
Shadman Islam not out12
Zakir Hasan not out11

EXTRAS (LB-4)4
TOTAL (for no loss, 12 overs)27
STILL TO BAT: Najmul Hossain, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana
BOWLING: Shaheen 4-1-8-0, Naseem 5-1-7-0, Khurram 3-0-8-0

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2024