Shaheen on song as Bangladesh fold up for 233

RAWALPINDI: Middle-order batsman Mohammad Mithun’s patient knock of 63 failed to help Bangladesh post a decent total on the board after being put into bat by Pakistan on the opening day of the first Test as they were bowled out for 233 here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.

The ever-improving pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up four wickets while accurate Mohammad Abbas claimed two and Haris Sohail chipped in with couple of late wickets to end the visitors’ innings before bad light forced the umpires to call off play early after 82.5 overs.

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali made no change in winning combination which had outclassed Sri Lanka in Karachi a couple of months ago while Bangladesh gave Test cap to opener Saif Hassan.

Abbas provided early breakthrough for Pakistan when he had seasoned opener Tamim Iqbal leg before for 3 while Saif was caught by Asad Shafiq off Afridi for a duck to have the visitors tottering at 2 for 3. However, Bangladesh were rescued by a resolute stand between Najmul Hossain Shanto and captain Mominul Haque though both looked uneasy against the nagging length of Abbas.

The pair collected 59 runs when their partnership was broken by Afridi induced a thin edge off the bat of Bangladesh captain for Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan to do the rest. Mominul faced 59 balls for his 30 which contained five fours.

Later, on the last ball of 33th over, Abbas stopped advances of Najmul who was looking in fine touch and was steadily moving towards his half century. He scored 44 runs from 110 balls with the six fours before getting caught behind.

He was replaced by Mahmudullah who contributed 25 runs from 48 balls with four boundaries before falling prey to Afridi-Asad combination. Asad took a brilliant catch at the third slip.

Wicket-keeper/batsman Liton Das contributed 33 runs from 46 ball with seven fours and Taijul Islam added 24 from 72 with four fours, but both fell to left arm spinn of Haris Sohail. The mainstay of the visitors was Mithun, who played superbly and scored 63 runs from 140 balls. His knock consisted of seven fours and a six.

He was looking set for a big knock and was fairly composed at the crease but was surprised by a rising delivery from young pacer Naseem Shah and was caught behind by Rizwan. Abu Jayed was the last batsmen to get out when a direct hit from Abbas found him short of his crease.

The Pakistani pacers looked good and bowleed well to share seven wickets between them.

However, leg-spinner Yasir Shah toiled for wickets and looked very unimpressive during his spells, unable to use any variety or the bounce to trouble the Bangladesh batsmen. He was expensive as usual conceding 83 runs in wicket-less 22 overs. With quite a few young and talented spinners on the horizon, Pakistan need to seriously think about replacing Yasir who has completely lost his touch.

Both Pakistan openers Shan Masood and Abid Ali are gearing for a stint out there in the middle on a pitch that has looked green but does not have any menacing bounce for the batsmen. The hosts are tipped to take a sizeable lead in the Test and dictate terms later on but it remains to be seen how well the home batsmen apply themselves here in the coming days.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH (1st Innings):

Tamim Iqbal lbw b Abbas 3

Saif Hassan c Asad b Shaheen 0

Najmul Hossain c Rizwan b Abbas 44

Mominul Haque c Rizwan b Shaheen 30

Mahmudullah c Asad b Shaheen 25

Mohammad Mithun c Rizwan b Naseem 63

Liton Das lbw b Haris 33

Taijul Islam c Yasir b Haris 24

Rubel Hossain b Shaheen 1

Abu Jayed run not 0