Honors of day one of the first test between touring Pakistan and Bangladesh now being played at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium Khulna were evenly shared.
Bangladesh winning the toss and deciding to bat first on a slow paced wicket with some purchase for accurate line and length bowling could finish at 236/4.
Bangladesh could have their nose in front if their consistent test batsman Mominul Huq was not dismissed on the penultimate ball of the day after playing a dogged innings of 80. On a wicket where ball was not coming easily at the bat it was not bad effort. All Pakistani bowlers bowled well maintaining tight length and line. Pakistan could be in a much better position if they did not drop five catches that came their way. The day two morning session will be very crucial as Bangladesh still have Shakib and Mushfique to consolidate and Soumya and Shubhagato to build on. A score of 350 plus will be extremely useful as Bangladesh has three genuine spinners to exploit whatever turn is already three. Wicket now indicating to assist spinners more and more as match progresses.
The feature of the day was his yet another 50 plus innings which was his 10 th in consecutive tests. His outstanding achievement has already elevated him to the level of Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar and John Edrich of England. This was his 13 th test and apart from his third test which he played against Zimbabwe at Harare he in fact scored fifty plus in every test. It was an outstanding achievement for very confident Bangladeshis batsman who now tops others excepting the all-time great Sir Donald Bradman in test average (67.26) for players who have played more than 20 test innings.
Pakistan, were left to rue the missed opportunities. Five chances were wasted in the first two sessions. Tamim, could have been out in the 20th over had Mohammad Hafeez held a low chance at leg slip when the batsman was on 16. Yasir Shah misjudged a lofted shot from Imrul in the 18th over, and Azhar Ali did not take a sharp chance at short leg from the same batsman in the 29th over. In the second session, left-arm spinner Babar dropped a return chance, letting Mominul off on 17. Then Younis and Hafeez allowed an outside edge from Mahmudullah's bat fly between them in the slip cordon.
Tamim and Kayes found it tough going against Junaid and Wahab Riaz though wicket was on the slower side. They bowled with hostile pace and were deadly accurate. Even the spinners Hafiz, Babar and Yasir got some turn and disconcerting bounce when they were brought on. Run making was extremely difficult. Yasir broke the monotony of a slow morning by picking up the wicket of Tamim 11 minutes before the end of the first session. Tamim scored a painstaking 25, his best against Pakistan, when an inside edge was smartly taken by Azhar at short leg. Tamim was perhaps a shade unlucky as Yasir’s delivery could be adjudged a front line no ball by Third Umpire Paul Reiffel as it appeared in replay. But it is part of the game. 50-50 decisions sometimes go in favor sometime not.
Kayes kept grafting on and crawled to his fifty after lunch in the 41 st over of the match playing 129 balls in the process. No sooner his little celebration ended he gave a return catch to “Professor” Hafiz taking his first wicket in his remodeled bowling action. Mahamuddaul joined Mominul. The pair played with care and attention .Pakistani bowlers kept probing. Misbah handled them extremely intelligently. The pair steadied the Bangladesh innings with a solid 95 runs third wicket partnership before Wahab Riaz reversing the old ball appreciably got Mahamudullah to nick one behind with just one run short of half century.
Mominul was playing mostly with the middle of bat also survived an opportunity when he was dropped at 17. He also got struck on his helmet by a bouncer from Junaid Khan. But “little bird was unflustered in his mission. Shakib joining Mominul found going very challenging. He had to curb his instinct and was digging in rather than attempting his belligerent stroke play excepting once. Mominul completed yet another half century and was looking good to convert to a bigger one. The pair was set to see off the day. Misbah took the new ball but preferred to use Hafiz and Babar instead of pacers from both end to exploit the bounce and turn. Mominul played two delicate cuts. But he was adjudged LBW to a lovely delivery of Babar, the penultimate ball off the day. Mominul scored 80. Misbah and his team had a great sigh of relief. 236/4 looked much better for them than having to encounter a Little Mominul on the second day.
But anyway Bangladesh batted with lot of character and resolve as well. There was hardly any irresponsible stroke attempted. Shakib and Mushfique will have lot to play on the second day. The first session is very crucial. The second ball is still new. If the pair can survive the first hour they can lead Bangladesh gradually to a zone of comfort. Soumya on his debut and Shubhgatlo have lot to prove. Any score of 350 plus will be very useful as batting on this surface on third day onwards will require character, quality and patience. Quality Bangladeshi spinners will also tease and torment Pakistan batting. Perhaps Jubair will be missed as Yasir really bowled well already.
Coming back to Mominul again he can only blame himself for the blemish he did on the fag end of the day. With stumps looming perhaps he had a momentary lapse of concentration. But in any case by scoring another half century he has equaled the record of living legend Sachin and Edrich. If he can repeat it at Dhaka in the next test he will catch up with Gautam Gambhir and Virendar Shewag scoring 50 plus in 11 successive tests. Off course protean legend AB de Villiers leads the pack with 12 in 12 tests.
Changed Bangladesh so far looked solid .But a team has to play consistently well for majority period of a test against a superior side to challenge them. The tigers new found resolve will be acid tested on the second day.
BDST: 1017 HRS, APR 29, 2015
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