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1st Test Pakistan v Bangladesh Day 3: Sensational Naseem rocks Bangladesh
Bangladesh tigers were very much in this contest, at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, with 124-2 in their second innings, before the skiddy pace of Naseem Shah turned the game upside down with a hat-trick. After removing the dogged Najmul Hossain Shanto, he sent back tail-ender Tajul Islam with a yorker and then the magical moment by having Mahmudullah caught at first slip by Haris Sohail.
Match Summary
Pakistan 445 all out
Bangladesh 233 and 126 - 6 (45.0overs)
At the Close of Play Day 3 - Bangladesh trail Pakistan by 86 runs with 4 wickets remaining
Earlier, the Sunday crowd received a shock with Babar Azam’s dismissal of the first ball he faced today. A hesitant push by the star Pakistan batsman took the edge of his bat to end up in the hands of first slip of Mohammad Mithun off Abu Jayed. In the present form, a maiden double hundred was there for the taking but it was not to be. Babar’s 143 had come off 193 balls and he hit 18 fours and a six, in compiling his fifth Test hundred.
Asad Shafiq too followed Babar when he was caught behind of the inside edge off Ebadat Hossain for 65. Two early strikes lifted Bangladesh as both overnight batsmen could have done serious damage. Even though the morning session belonged to the tourists, Pakistan were sitting comfortable on 420-7 at lunch.
Off the mark off his 26th delivery on a mis-field, Mohammad Abbas was willing to hang around, as he usually does with organised defensive technique, but his senior partner, Haris Sohail, holed out in the deep. The left-handed, demoted to number six, needed to justify his inclusion ahead of Fawad Alam, who is still waiting, amongst the reserves, to resume his Test career. Haris timed the ball well in his pleasing effortless style and showed his liking for slow bowlers by twice lofting left-armer, Tajul Islam for six, before getting out to the same bowler, with 75 off 103 balls to his name.
The tourists seam attack is now in the hands of bowling coach Ottis Gibson, whose knowledge of modern-day cricket is quite extensive for he has previously performed the same role with three other Test nations - West Indies, England and South Africa. The efforts of the seam bowlers, in particular that of Abu Jayed (3-86) and Rubel Hossain (3-113) would have pleased Gibson. Bangladesh on the third day went on to pick up seven wickets for 103 runs thus restricting Pakistan to 445.
Trailing by 212 runs, Bangladesh openers made a positive start to their innings and by tea had reached 51-1, which included 10 boundaries and their leading batsman in all three formats, Tamim Iqbal unbeaten on 32. His partner Saif Hassan, the only right-handed in the top four, out to a golden duck on his Test debut on the opening day, showed glimpses of his potential. After four well-timed boundaries, he was bowled, playing back to Naseem Shah for 16.
Immediately after tea, Yasir Shah’s fizzing wrist spin was introduced and Tamim on 34, after top-edging a sweep and escaping a swerving catch to Shan Masood, was trapped leg-before, playing back. A major breakthrough for Pakistan as he, only last week had smashed an unbeaten 334 – the highest first-class score by a Bangladeshi in first-class cricket – for East Zone against Central Zone in Dhaka.
The two left-handed– Najmul (38) and Mominul Haque (37 not out) – added 71 runs for the third wicket and were well trenched to carry on the fight on the fourth day, before the carnage. At 16years and 359 days, Naseem has become the youngest player in history to achieve a Test hat-trick. Previously only three Pakistan bowlers – Wasim Akram (2), Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Sami – have achieved the feat. Bangladesh closed on 126-6 and still trail by 86 runs with skipper Mominul, with only the lower order to support his resistence.
The crowd estimated in the region of 10,000 with a fair representation of Pothohar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab regions, created an atmosphere in Rawalpindi that was certainly missing in UAE, Pakistan cricketers’ adopted home for the last decade. Dr. Arif Alvi President of Pakistan, arrived to watch a passage of play in the third session. Among the former cricketers invited in the VIP enclosure today were celebrated all-rounder and captain Mushtaq Mohammed, pace bowler Mohammad Akram and ‘Rawalpindi Express’ Shoaib Akhtar, who circled the ground to the delight of the crowd.
Teams
Pakistan - Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali(c), Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan(wk), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi
Bangladesh - Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque(c), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Liton Das(wk), Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Abu Jayed, Ebadat Hossain
Match Details
Start Time: 05:00
Toss: Pakistan won the toss and decided to field
Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
Officials: Nigel Llong, Christopher Gaffaney, Marais Erasmus, Shozab Raza, Richard Richardson
©Cricket World 2020
