- By Namrata Vijay
- Sat, 31 Aug 2024 07:55 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
PAK vs BAN, 2nd Test: The Bangladesh spinners once again gave the Pakistan batters a hard time on Day 2 of the second Test match on Saturday as Mehidy Hasan Miraz took a five-for. The Men in Green were skittled out for 274 runs as spinners took six wickets and the fast bowlers took the other four. The Bangla Tigers ended the day by scoring 10 runs and didn't lose any wickets.
The Shah Masood-led side suffered a humiliating loss in the series opener where the Bangladesh spinners ran riot and helped the team win the match. Mehidy earlier in the day took four wickets and then took another and registered his 10th five-for as the Pakistani batters were once again struggling to bat against the spinners. Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and chose to bowl first and Taskin Ahmed gave the team the much-needed breakthrough. He bowled a brilliant inswinger and dismissed Abdullah Shafique for a duck.
But skipper Shan Masood and Saim Ayub helped the team bounce back by stitching a steady partnership. But the Bangla Tigers fought back as Mehidy dismissed both Masood and Ayub after both of them smashed their respective half-centuries. Saud Shakeel was the new batter as they went from 107/1 to 151/4 and all eyes were then on the duo of Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan to help the team bounce back.
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Babar, whose woeful form continued as he slipped to the ninth position as per the latest ICC Test batters rankings, was looking in good touch as he scored 31 runs off 77 balls. But he once again failed to convert his start as Shakib-al-Hasan dismissed him by trapping him in front of the stumps. Agha Salman and Rizwan then survived a difficult phase as Bangladesh dominated the second session as Nashid Rana dismissed Rizwan.
The Men in Green looked in great trouble as they were reeling at 211/6 and that's when Salman batted with the tailenders. He played aggressively and brought up his seventh half-century. Mehidy then dismissed the tailenders and registered the figures of 61/5 in the 22.1 overs that he bowled.
Although the visitors had a perfect day Mushfiqur Rahim's injury concern is their biggest headache now. He was seen limping off the ground in the 53rd over as he injured his shoulder while trying to stop a four. He was their star batter in the first Test as he scored a match-winning knock of 191 runs.
Besides this, they should also be wary of their slow over rate as they bowled just 55 overs in four and a half hours. The Shan Masood-led side has a young bowling attack as they gave Naseem Shah some rest and dropped Shaheen Shah Afridi but are hopeful that they could bring them back on the third day.