Bangladesh batting line-up crumble before Pakistan on day one
Bangladesh were unable to recover from the early shocks of losing debutant Saif Hassan and Tamim Iqbal and were all out for 233 runs in their first innings of the first Test at the Pindi Stadium on Friday.
Pakistan's pace bowlers had struck early to leave Bangladesh struggling at 95-3. Shaheen Shah Afridi stood out as he picked four wickets for 53 runs. Mohammad Abbas and Haris Sohail took two wickets apiece while Naseem Shah dismissed one.
Abu Jayed, who got run out by a throw by Abbas, was the last man to go.
The top scorer from Bangladesh was Mohammad Mithun, who scored 63 runs with the help of seven boundaries and a six. He was caught behind by Mohammad Rizwan on a delivery by 16-year-old Naseem Shah.
Pakistan fast bowlers exploited a tinge of grass on the wicket at the Pindi Cricket Stadium after captain Azhar Ali won the toss and opted to field.
The visitors ran into early trouble against Pakistan's pace bowlers and after Afridi's early strike, Abbas successfully went for leg before wicket referral against Iqbal in the second over but Nigel Llong overturned a confident appeal.
Tamim, who scored a triple century in a domestic first-class game last week, scored only three in his comeback Test match after the left-hander missed Bangladesh's last Test series against India.
Abbas bowled two tidy spells in the first session and gave away only seven runs in his 10 overs for the key wicket of Tamim.
Mominul and Najmul played resolutely after two early setbacks and just when they looked to carry Bangladesh's fightback, Afridi broke the 59-run third-wicket partnership.
Mominul hit five that included two on driven fours in Afridi's one over before the left-armer induced a thin edge of Bangladesh skippers bat.
Pakistan opted for the same team that won the second Test against Sri Lanka in Karachi in December last year, playing with three fast bowlers and a lone spinner in Yasir Shah.
Bangladesh handed a Test debut to 21-year-old opener Saif Hassan and also included three pacers as well as a spinner in Taijul Islam
Bangladesh Test tour
Bangladesh was originally scheduled to play three Twenty20 Internationals and two Test matches, but agreed to split the tour into three phases because it did not want to stay in Pakistan for a longer duration due to security concerns.
After this Test, the side will return to Pakistan in April for a one-off One-Day International (April 3) and the second and final Test (April 5-9) at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Pakistan won the T20 series 2-0 last month at Lahore, with the third game abandoned because of rain.
Ahead of today's match, skipper Ali hoped that Pakistan would strengthen their credentials — both as a team and as hosts.
"Credit to the two cricket boards for making this series possible," Ali said on Thursday. "Would have been good if the series was not split but we are focused as this is a World Test Championship match."
Line ups:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque (capt), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Liton Das (wk), Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Abu Jayed, Ebadot Hossain
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (capt) , Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi.
Source: Agencies
