RAWALPINDI: With history in their sight, Bangladesh marched on until they crossed the finish line. Pakistan, meanwhile, were mere spectators.

To win the second and final Test, seal the series 2-0 and to complete their maiden whitewash over Pakistan, Bangladesh needed 143 more runs on the fifth day here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The bigness of the occassion hardly tingled their nerves as the visitors cruised towards the goal with a thorough approach.

It was Shakib Al Hasan, Bang­ladesh’s veteran all-rounder who hit the winning runs as the side wrapped up the proceedings soon after lunch, registering a more than convincing six-wicket win.

Bangladesh had won the first Test by 10 wickets, also in Rawalpindi — their first victory against Pakistan in 14 matches.

Shakib scored a 43-ball 21, while, another seasoned campaigner on the other end, Mushfiqur Rahim added 22 off 41 as Bangladesh overhauled the tricky 185-run target.

Contributions by Zakir Hasan (40), Shadman Islam (24), skipper Najmul Hossain (28) and Mominul Haque (34) also proved crucial for the visitors.

Bangladesh had ridden on a fightback led by Litton Das in the first-innings, as the batter hit 138 to lift his team to 262 for 26-6 in response to Pakistan’s first-innings total of 274.

They turned their match almost completely in their favour as pacers Hasan Mahmud (5-43) and Nahid Rana (4-44) dismantled the Pakistan line-up on the fourth day.

The achievement comes for Bangladesh days after bloody protests across the country had triggered the ouster of their former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Najmul acknowledged the feat was historic.

“It means a lot to Bangladesh cricket and to all the players,” said the captain. “I cannot express the feelings but I can say that we all are very happy and overjoyed.

“When we came here everybody was determined to do something special and we wanted to win. I am happy that everyone did his job to the best and we have won a historic series.”

The defeat for Pakistan, meanwhile, is shocking and it has dimmed their hopes of qualifying for the ICC World Test Championship final, which is scheduled to be held at Lord’s in June next year.

After seven Tests in the Cham­pionship cycle so far, the Shan Masood-led side are languishing at the ninth place in the standings.

Pakistan have recorded a series of unexpected results this year, registering defeats against the likes of USA and Ireland in T20 internationals. They had also lost to Afghanistan in the 50-over World Cup last year, as they failed to make it to the semi-finals — pointing towards a clear decline of a sport which has a massive following in the country.

Resuming their second innings on Tuesday with a solid 42 for no loss, Bangladesh reached 122-2 by lunch and crossed the finish line ahead of tea as the rain held off throughout the day.

In the morning session, Zakir and Shadman were the wickets to fall, dismissed by Mir Hamza and Khurram Shahzad, respectively. Zakir, who started the day on 31, was bowled out for 40, while Shad­man, adding 15 runs to his overnight score of nine, departed for 24.

Najmul, with a crucial 38, forged a 57-run partnership for the third wicket with Mominul, steering Bangladesh closer to the target. The Bangladesh skipper’s innings ended when Abdullah Shafique took a low catch at short leg off Salman Ali Agha.

Mominul then attempted to clear mid-on off Abrar but misjudged, allowing Saim Ayub to take the catch at mid-off. The final push came from seasoned batters Mushfiqur and Shakib, who shared an unbeaten 38-run stand to seal the victory.

This defeat marks Pakistan’s sixth loss in 10 Tests at home since their 95-run victory over South Africa in February 2021. Overall, Pakistan has now lost 11 of 23 Tests, with only eight wins since that last victory. For Shan, this was his fifth consecutive loss as captain since replacing Babar Azam on last year’s tour to Aus­tralia, and it’s a challenging start for new red-ball coach Jason Gillespie.

FITNESS EMERGENCY

While shrugging off the notion that Bangladesh should have been opponents to beat, Shan hinted that Pakistan were facing alarming fitness issues, saying that the players lacked enough of it to give their best across the five days of a Test match.

“I think we should give respect to the opposition, each of it has its own qualities,” he said in the post-match press conference. “Bangla­desh’s quality was their discipline across the two matches of the series.

“We made a lot of mistakes in this series. One of the realities that has emerged is that Test cricket demands fitness — mental and physical — that prevails across four to five days.

“But we have showed that we have to work on fitness.”

While Pakistan were decent with the ball during the series, their batters failed to make a mark when it mattered the most. Shan said it was the story of Pakistan cricket from even before he started playing.

“When we find ourselves under pressure in the third and fourth innings we need to play better and avoid collapsing so easily,” he said. “The positive signs were that we got good starts in both bowling and batting.

“But then fitness is something that comes in our way and we have to work over this across Pakistan cricket.”

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 274 (Saim Ayub 58; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-61)

BANGLADESH (1st Innings) 262 (Litton Das 138; Khurram Shahzad 6-90)

PAKISTAN (2nd Innings) 172 (Salman Ali Agha 47 not out; Hasan Mahmud 5-43)

BANGLADESH (2nd Innings, overnight 42-0):

Zakir Hasan b Hamza 40

Shadman Islam c Shan b Khurram 24

Najmul Hossain c Abdullah b Salman 38

Mominul Haque c Saim b Abrar 34

Mushfiqur Rahim not out 22

Shakib Al Hasan not out 21

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, NB-1) 6

TOTAL (for four wickets, 56 overs) 185

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-58 (Zakir), 2-70 (Shadman), 3-127 (Najmul), 4-153 (Mominul)

DID NOT BAT: Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana

BOWLING: Hamza 14-4-46-1 (1nb), Khurram 7-0-40-1, Abrar 14-3-40-1, Ali 17-3-37-0, Salman 4-1-17-1

RESULT: Bangladesh won by six wickets.

SERIES: Bangladesh won the series 2-0.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2024