Bangladesh beleaguered by Pakistan despite first-innings lead
Bangladesh had won more sessions than Pakistan by the end of day three but couldn't sustain the momentum until day five. Bangladesh had their moments in the match but it was Pakistan who won the match convincingly in the end by eight wickets and went 1-0 up in the series.
"It looks like all the wickets have fallen in the morning session," said Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo after the fourth day of the Test match. It was more in optimism than anything else. 4, 6, 4, 2 - are the number of wickets fell in the first session of the match in the first four days but it was always going to be a walk in the park for Pakistan to score 93 runs on day five especially with all ten wickets in hand.
There was still little hope for the Bangladesh fans as they had previously taken 10 wickets in a session to register a dramatic win against England. But the scenario was different this time around. The opponents were Pakistan - who are well-equipped to face spin - and the pitch didn't deteriorate much. On top of that, there was no Shakib Al Hasan.
Liton Das' magnificent performance in both innings was overshadowed by Pakistan's tremendous display and more importantly the 'not-so-penetrating' bowling performance by the Bangladeshi bowlers.
Bangladesh were effectively 133 for five when Yasir Ali, the debutant, was batting solidly along with the in-form Liton Das. But Yasir Ali being concussed was the turning point of the match. Nurul Hasan's (concussion substitute) poor shot rubbed salt to the wound.
After a sensational hundred, Liton Das scored a fine 59 off 89 deliveries but none of his teammates except Yasir (36 off 72) crossed the 20-run mark in the second innings. After Liton got out as the 8th Bangladeshi batter, the home side couldn't add anything to the total and the target for Pakistan was 202.
Once again the Tigers failed to take early wickets and by the time the fourth day ended, Pakistan were in complete command.
Bangladesh broke through twice on day five but Pakistan cruised to an eight-wicket win. Abid Ali fell short of a hundred by just nine runs. The right-hander also hit a hundred in the first innings and bagged the player-of-the-match award. Abdullah Shafique, his opening partner, struck fifty in each innings (52 and 73) of the match on debut.
Babar Azam and Azhar Ali finished things off with a 31-run stand for the third wicket. Taijul Islam took eight wickets in the match but unfortunately had to remain in the losing side.
The scoreboard won't suggest that the match could've gone either way until at least the second session of the fourth day. But Bangladesh's effort in the evening session on both the third and fourth day let them down. The middle-order fared decently in both innings but the failure of the top-order was one of the reasons why Bangladesh lost despite taking a first-innings lead of 44 runs.
They lost four wickets for only 49 and 25 runs in the first and second innings respectively. Both openers failed big time but the skipper Mominul's low score in both innings hurt Bangladesh.
Pakistan's pacers made a big difference as well, Hasan Ali in the first innings and Shaheen Shah Afridi in the second. Both registered five-wicket hauls and Bangladesh's top-order simply had no answers to their pace and accuracy.
It is all about going session by session in Test cricket. Bangladesh had won more sessions than Pakistan by the end of day three but couldn't sustain the momentum until day five. Bangladesh had their moments in the match but it was Pakistan who won the match convincingly in the end by eight wickets and went 1-0 up in the series.
