RAWALPINDI: Mushfiqur Rahim’s (191) gallant hundred and Pakistan’s spineless bowling helped Bangladesh take a rare 117-run first innings lead against Pakistan at the Pindi Stadium here on Saturday.
Bangladesh raised 565 -- their highest ever Test total against Pakistan, surpassing the previous 555 achieved during the only drawn Test the two countries have played at Khulna in 2015.
At stumps on the penultimate day of the first World Test Championship match, Pakistan survived some anxious moments to score 23 for the loss of Saim Ayub (1), picked up by Shoriful Islam. Shan Masood (9 not out) and Abdullah Shafique (12 not out) were lucky to be at the crease after several close calls. Pakistan require a further 93 runs to nullify Bangladesh’s first-innings lead with nine of their second wickets and a day to spare.
“We are looking forward to pinning down Pakistan on the last day as the wicket has shown some cracks which could be exploited by spinners,” Mehidy Hasan Miraz said in a media talk.
It was truly a Mushfiq day who raised his first hundred against Pakistan and the highest ever 7th wicket stand for Bangladesh with Mehidy (77). The two put on 196 runs for the 7th wicket to enable visitors to take the first-innings lead against a team that included four front-line seamers to exploit the greenish-looking stripe. The pitch turned out to be a docile one as the Bangladesh batsmen fully utilised the condition.
Led by Mushfiq who was unlucky to have missed his fourth double-hundred, Bangladesh kept on scoring runs in a fluent manner. Mushfiq smashed 22 boundaries and a six during his 341-ball stay at the wicket. In a 56 overs partnership, Mushfiq and Mehidy snatched the initiative from Pakistan with some lovely drives all around the ground.
“We really enjoyed our stay at the wicket. Mushi helped me where it was required and both got the runs that helped our team raise the best ever total against Pakistan,” said Mehidy. It is the fourth time that Bangladesh have crossed 500 runs in an overseas Test match.
Mushfiq also became the highest run-getter for Bangladesh in overseas Test matches when he reached 143. Such was Mushfiq and Mehidy’s dominance that at a time Pakistan pace quartet looked ordinary and almost powerless to create an impact.
Shaheen Shah Afridi looked totally out of sorts while other pacers were also unimpressive.
Shaheen, who struggled all day long for wickets, finally celebrated his son’s arrival with the wicket of tail-ender Hasan Mahmood caught behind for no score. He later also had Mehidy caught in slips.
Mehidy cantered to his seventh Test fifty fully utilising the docile nature of the pitch. “I enjoyed batting here as I am playing my first Test here in Pakistan. My stand with Mushfiq more importantly put the pressure on the host team as we now are enjoying a good lead that could well be crucial to the team cause,” he said.
Naseem Shah (3-93) picked up three wickets while Shaheen, Mohammad Ali and Khurram Shahzad got two wickets each.
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