DHAKA: Debutant Azan Awais struck a composed century before Bangladesh fought back through Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s five-wicket haul to edge ahead on a fluctuating third day of the opening Test here at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.

Pakistan were dismissed for 386 in reply to Bangladesh’s 413, conceding a slender first-inn­ings lead of 27 runs, before bad light forced an early close with Bang­ladesh reaching seven with­out loss in their second innings.

At stumps, Mahmudul Hasan Joy was unbeaten on two alongside Shadman Islam, with the hosts holding an overall lead of 34 runs in a match still delicately poised heading into the final two days.

The day, however, belonged as much to Pakistan’s young batters as it did to Bangladesh’s bowlers.

Resuming on 85 overnight, the 21-year-old Azan completed a memorable maiden Test hundred off 153 balls, becoming the 14th Pakistani batter to score a century on Test debut and the sixth overall to do so against Bangladesh.

The left-hander’s innings of 103 was marked by fluency on both sides of the wicket, particularly through the covers, and formed the backbone of Pakis­tan’s response after the visitors had resumed in a strong position.

Azan shared a 106-run opening partnership with Imam-ul-Haq and then added another 104 for the second wicket with fellow debutant Abdullah Fazal, with the pair becoming only the third debutant duo from Pakistan to put together a century stand in Test cricket.

“It’s a very blessed feeling for me because I know it’s my debut match and I performed really well for my country,” Azan said after play. “When I went in to bat, I was a little nervous, but the seniors gave me a lot of confidence throughout the innings.”

Bangladesh had struggled to make inroads during the opening two sessions of Pakistan’s inni­ngs, but the complexion of the match changed dramatically after Taskin Ahmed removed Azan, who edged to skipper Najm­ul Hossain Shanto at slip to become the paceman’s 50th Test wicket.

That dismissal triggered a collapse which saw Pakistan slide from 210-1 to 230-5 before lunch.

Taskin struck again when Shan Masood was caught at point for nine, before Mehidy entered the contest decisively. Saud Shakeel was trapped lbw without scoring, while Abdu­llah’s patient knock of 60 ended when he miscued an uppish drive to mid-on.

Abdullah, who faced 120 deliveries and struck seven fours and a six, had earlier played the supporting role to Azan with considerable maturity in only his first Test appearance.

Pakistan were in danger of squandering their strong start before Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha repaired the innings with a valuable sixth-wicket stand of 119.

The pair adopted a more measured approach against Bangladesh’s disciplined attack, while still finding regular boundaries to keep the scoreboard moving. Rizwan made 59 and Salman contributed 58 as Pakistan gradually closed in on Bangladesh’s total.

Rizwan, however, fell mom­ents after reaching his half-century when he attempted to attack Taijul Islam and was caught at mid-off, shortly before rain interrupted play for nearly an hour.

When play resumed, Bangladesh tightened their grip. Salman edged to slip soon after the restart, while Mehidy removed Noman Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi in quick succession to complete his 14th five-wicket haul in Tests.

Taijul then bowled Mir Hamza to wrap up the innings in just over a hundred overs.

Mehidy finished with 5-102 from 38 overs and said patience had been key on a surface that offered little assistance to the spinners early on.

“The wicket was very good for batting in the first three days, so as a spinner my mindset was that I would not get much help from the pitch,” he said.

“If I kept bowling in the right areas and the batters made mistakes, then opportunities would come.”

The Bangladesh vice-captain credited his partnership with Taskin for creating sustained pressure from both ends.

“When one end stays tight and the other end also keeps the pressure, batters are forced into mistakes in Test cricket,” he said. “That was our plan throughout the day.”

Despite Bangladesh’s narrow advantage, Mehidy cautioned that the match remained evenly balanced.

“There are still two days left and the result is probably 50-50 at this stage,” he said. “We need to bat responsibly because you never know what score is safe in Mirpur.”

He added that a target in the region of 300 could prove challenging on a wearing fifth-day surface.

Pakistan, meanwhile, will draw confidence from the performances of their debutants after Azan and Abdullah announced themselves impressively on the Test stage.

Yet with the pitch expected to deteriorate further and Bangladesh’s spinners increasingly influential, the visitors may rue their middle-order collapse after threatening to secure a sizeable first-innings lead earlier in the day.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH (1st Innings) 413 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 101; Mohammad Abbas 5-92)
PAKISTAN (1st Innings, overnight 179-1):
Azan Awais c Najmul b Taskin 103
Imam-ul-Haq lbw b Mehidy 45
Abdullah Fazal c Taijul b Mehidy 60
Shan Masood c Shadman b Taskin 9
Saud Shakeel lbw b Mehidy 0
Salman Ali Agha c Najmul b Nahid 58
Mohammad Rizwan c Mahmudul b Taijul 59
Noman Ali c Najmul b Mehidy 2
Shaheen Shah Afridi c Mominul b Mehidy 13
Hasan Ali b Taijul 6
Mohammad Abbas not out 6
EXTRAS (B-8, LB-2, NB-9, W-6) 25
TOTAL (all out, 100.3 overs) 386
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-106 (Imam), 2-210 (Azan), 3-226 (Shan), 4-227 (Saud), 5-230 (Abdullah), 6-349 (Rizwan), 7-353 (Salman), 8-372 (Noman), 9-374 (Shaheen)
BOWLING: Taskin 18-1-70-2 (3nb), Ebadot 12-2-54-0 (2nb), Nahid 21-2-104-1 (2w, 4nb), Mehidy 38-5-102-5, Taijul (11.3-0-46-2)

BANGLADESH:
Mahmudul Hasan not out 2
Shadman Islam not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-5) 5
TOTAL (for no loss, 1.5 overs) 7
STILL TO BAT: Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Ebadot Hossain
BOWLING: Shaheen 1-0-2-0, Abbas 0.5-0-0-0

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2026