PAK vs BAN 1st Test: The first match of the 2-match Test series between Pakistan and Bangladesh is being played in Rawalpindi. Bangladesh team is currently in a strong position in this match. At stumps on the fourth day (24 August), Pakistan team scored 23 runs for one wicket in their second innings. Shan Masood is unbeaten on 9 and Abdullah Shafiq is unbeaten on 12. Pakistan is still 94 runs behind Bangladesh and has 9 wickets remaining. Now on the last day (25 August) the responsibility of saving the match will be on the Pakistani batsmen.
Rahim’s century puts PAK on the backfoot
Earlier, Bangladesh had scored 565 runs in its first innings and got a lead of 117 runs on the basis of the first innings. Experienced batsman Mushfiqur Rahim played an innings of 191 runs for Bangladesh. This was the 11th century of Rahim’s Test career. Rahim faced 341 balls during this period and hit 22 fours and a six. Shadman Isman (97), Mahedi Hasan Miraz (77), Liton Das (56) and Mominul Haque made half-century contributions. Naseem Shah took the maximum of three wickets for Pakistan. Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali and Shaheen Afridi took two wickets each.
Mushfiqur Rahim completes his 11th Test century, much to the delight of his teammates and fans 🇧🇩🏏#PAKvBAN | #TestOnHai pic.twitter.com/jWqAX7YVdR
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 24, 2024
Let us tell you that after a bad start, the Pakistan team scored a big score of 448 runs for 6 wickets in the first innings with the help of centuries from Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan. Pakistan captain Shan Masood decided to declare the innings at this score. Mohammad Rizwan scored an unbeaten 171 off 239 balls, which included 11 fours and three sixes. Saud Shakeel continued his excellent form in cricket and scored 141 runs off 261 balls. Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam took two wickets each for Bangladesh.
For this test match, Pakistan had prepared a pitch that was favorable for fast bowlers. This was the reason why captain Shan Masood included 4 fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ali and Khurram Shahzad in the playing 11. But this decision of Pakistan seemed to backfire on them.
In the match, Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bowl first and took 3 wickets of Pakistan for just 16 runs. Abdullah Shafiq (2), Shan Masood (6) and Babar Azam (0) were out early. After this, Sam Ayub scored 56 and Saud Shakeel scored an unbeaten 57 to take charge of the team. Pakistan lost its fourth wicket in the form of Ayub at 114 runs. After this, Rizwan and Shakeel rescued Pakistan from the crisis by making a partnership of 240 runs.