Mirpur: Despite an anchor century from debutant Azan Awais, Mehdi Hasan Miraz’s five-wicket haul gave Bangladesh a 27-run lead over Pakistan in the first Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Only 11 balls could be bowled after the innings break until field umpires Richard Kettleborough and Kumar Dharmasena called it a day due to poor light.
At the end of play on day three, Bangladesh were 7/0 in 1.5 overs and led by 34 runs with 10 wickets in hand.
Earlier, the visitors were bowled out for 386 in 100.3 overs, losing by 27 runs.
Pakistan got off to a poor start to the last session as Salman Ali Agha was dismissed by Nahid Rana, who had scored 58 off 94 balls with six fours and a six.
Following his dismissal, Pakistan’s batting wall scored a crucial 33 runs until Taijul Islam ended their innings with a clean sweep of Hasan Ali.
Miraz was the best bowler for Bangladesh as he took 5 wickets for 102 runs in his 38 overs, followed by Taskin and Islam with 2 wickets each and Rana with one.
At the end of the second session of a pulsating third day, the tourists were 349/6 in 89.4 overs, trailing by 64 runs, with four wickets in hand.
The session was largely dominated by Agha and Rizwan, who stitched a 119-run sixth-wicket partnership that brought up their respective half-centuries with both batsmen.
Left-arm spinner Islam eventually broke the menacing partnership with the final delivery of the 90th over, caught by Rizwan at mid-off, resulting in the tea break.
Rizwan departed after scoring 59 runs off 79 balls with 8 boundaries.
Agha, meanwhile, remained solid on an unbeaten 55 off 90 balls and will resume Pakistan’s reply with an unmarked Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Earlier, Pakistan resumed their first innings at 179/1 with debutants Azaan Awais and Abdullah Fazal ensuring the momentum was maintained by extending their overnight partnership to 104 runs.
Azan retired after top-scoring for Pakistan with 103 off 165 balls with 14 fours.
The 21-year-old’s dismissal, however, sparked a middle-order collapse as Pakistan lost three more wickets at regular intervals, with set batsman Fazal falling to Miraz after his 60.
With the scoreboard reading 230/5, wicketkeeper batsman Rizwan joined Agha in the middle and the duo batted carefully to form an unbeaten 21-run partnership for the sixth wicket.