Bangladesh’s top-order once again buckled against the Pakistani bowlers Wednesday when the hosts lost four early wickets after they were made to follow on by Pakistan.
Bangladesh was dismissed for a hapless 87 runs in the first innings after Sajid Khan ripped through their batting order, taking 8/42.
His feat breathed life into the match, which was headed towards a certain draw, given how Pakistan’s first innings concluded on Day 4.
However, on Day 5, it was Pakistan’s pace battery that dealt early blows to Bangladesh when their second innings resumed, taking two wickets each.
At lunch, Bangladesh were 72/4.
Sajid Khan was arguably the player of the day on Tuesday when he took six important wickets as a beleaguered Bangladesh were held to 76/7 before bad light forced play to be stopped Tuesday.
Speaking after the day ended on Tuesday, Sajid Khan said skipper Babar Azam “told every one of us to go in for the win. Everyone did that. We attacked them and got rewarded”.
“In the first match, the ball wasn’t turning like this. Even when the ball turned there, the batsmen got time to cope with it,” he added.
“The plan is to get these three wickets, send them to bat again and then bowl them out again.”
When play resumed on Day 4 Tuesday, Pakistan lost two early wickets in when Azhar Ali and captain Babar Azam departed for the pavilion within a short span of time.
However, Mohammad Rizwan and Fawad Alam rose to the occasion and scored half-centuries to ensure the visitors stretched the total to 300 before Babar Azam declared the innings.
If Pakistan pull off a victory today, the Men in Green will whitewash the hosts 2-0.
Pakistan lead the two-Test series 1-0 after an eight-wicket win in Chittagong.
Pakistan playing XI
Babar Azam (captain), Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Sajid Khan, Nauman Ali, Shaheen Afridi
Bangladesh playing XI
Mominul Haque (captain), Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das (wicketkeeper), Mahedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Khaled Ahmed
