Pakistan captain Babar Azam and experienced batsman Azhar Ali guided the Men in Green to their first victory over Bangladesh in the two-match Test series on Tuesday, as the visitors beat the hosts by eight wickets.
Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the first Test match. Pakistan looked set to cruise to victory after openers Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique each struck half-centuries to lay a good foundation.
Bangladesh’s master of deception Taijul Islam trapped Abid Ali lbw for 91 runs, while Mehidy Hasan dismissed Abdullah Shafique for 73 runs.
However, Pakistan’s victory was secured by a steady partnership between Azhar Ali (24 points) and skipper Babar Azam (13 points).
Pakistan was 109-0 at stumps on Day 4, needing only 93 runs on the final day.
Ali was 56 not out at the end of the play, adding to his 133 in the first innings, and debutant Shafique was undefeated on 53.
“A fourth day is really important in Test cricket,” Shafique stated.
“Our strategy for today was to limit them to the lowest possible total so that we could simply track them down. This is exactly what we attempted, and we were successful.”
Earlier in the day, fast bowler Shaheen Afridi took 5-32 to help Pakistan bowl out Bangladesh for 157 runs in their second innings, despite wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das’s valiant fifty.
Bangladesh appeared doomed after losing Mushfiqur Rahim in the opening over of the day, but Liton, who had a century in the first innings, brought the hosts back into contention with 59 off 89 balls.
Afridi finished his fourth five-wicket Test haul by trapping Liton leg-before and then dismissing Abu Jaye for a duck.
Sajid Khan, who finished with 3-33, brought the game to a close by dismissing Taijul Islam.
Mushfiqur Ali scored a boundary off the opening ball of the morning, bowled by Hasan Ali, to give the hosts a good start.
But two balls later, Hasan uprooted his off-stump and left a delivery that darted back in and departed for 16.
