Thanks to brilliant effort by Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammed Abbas and Naseem Shah, Pakistan have ended the first day of the first Test match against Bangladesh in a good position played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Pakistan captain Azhar Ali won the toss and decided to field first. It was an ideal start for the hosts as Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed debutant Saif Hassan off the 3rd ball. In the next over, Mohammad Abbas got the big wicket of Tamim Iqbal with a review by Pakistan. The umpire gave it not out and on review it was crashing onto off stump to put Bangladesh under pressure at 3 for 2. Najmul Shanto and Bangladesh captain Mominal Haque took the attack to Pakistani bowling line up with positive stroke play. As things looked good for Bangladesh, Shaheen Shah Afridi got the wicket of Bangladesh captain Haque for 30. Haque and Shanto added 59 runs for the 3rd wicket. Mahmudullah came to the crease and looked edgy. At lunch, Bangladesh were 95 for 3.
It was an ideal start for the hosts right after the lunch break as Mohammad Abbas got the wicket of Shanto for 44. The Pakistani bowlers kept a tight line and length not allowing Bangladeshi batsmen to score runs easily. Shaheen Shah Afridi produced another wicket dismissing Mahmudullah with a stunning catch by Asad Shafiq to leave Bangladesh in trouble at 107 for 5. Mohammad Mithun and Liton Das played with positive intent and looked to score runs which put some pressure on Pakistani bowling line up. Yasir Shah poor form continued as he went for runs. The part timer Haris Sohail was bought into the attack and got the results by dismissing Liton Das with a review. The umpire gave it not out and on a review the umpire gave it out. Das and Mithun added 54 runs for the 6th wicket. At tea, Bangladesh were 172 for 6.
In the 3rd session, Taijul Islam and Mohammad Mithun looked impressive with their stroke play frustrating the Pakistani bowlers. Both Bangladeshi batsmen scored against Yasir Shah who went wicket less. Haris Sohail struck again to dismiss Taijul Islam who played a poor stroke. Islam and Mithun added 53 runs for the 7th wicket.
Mohammad Mithun reached his fifty off 137 balls with a boundary off Yasir Shah bowling. Pakistani captain Azhar Ali took the 2nd new ball immediately. Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed Rubel Hossain. Naseem Shah got big wicket of well-set Mohammad Mithun for 63 with a review for a caught behind. The umpire gave it not out and on review there was a glove. Mohammad Abbas ran out Abu Jayed to bowl out Bangladesh for 233.
Bangladesh 233 in 82.5 overs (Mohammad Mithun 63, Najmul Shanto 44, Shaheen Shah Afridi 4/53, Mohammad Abbas 2/19)
