Following their victory in the first Test on home ground, the Bangladesh cricket team showed their dominance with the ball once again in the second Test.
Taskin Ahmed made a strong start, and then Mehedi Hasan Miraz took over, delivering relentless bowling that left the hosts struggling. Pakistan’s innings was limited to 274 runs.
Before the end of the second day, Bangladesh had faced no loss of wickets in their two overs of batting, scoring 10 runs. Openers Sadman Islam Anik and Zakir Hasan are currently unbeaten, with Sadman on 6 and Zakir yet to score. Bangladesh trails Pakistan by 264 runs in their first innings.
Pakistan’s innings might have concluded earlier if not for four dropped catches. Miraz was the key player, dismissing Pakistan’s innings well before they reached 300 runs. After more than a year away from Test cricket, Taskin Ahmed made an impressive return, claiming 3 wickets.
The first day of the Test was washed out due to rain, and no play or toss occurred. On the second day, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and chose to field. Taskin, replacing Shariful, took the first wicket of the innings in his opening over, dismissing Shafique with his pace and swing.
Saim Ayub and captain Shan Masood then built a resistance, adding 106 runs for the second wicket. Both scored half-centuries before Miraz broke their partnership, dismissing Shan for 57 off 69 balls and Ayub for 58 off 110 balls.
Taskin removed Saud Shakeel, who had been solid but was out for 16 runs. The star pairing of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan attempted to advance the innings, but Sakhib Al Hasan dismissed Babar for 31 runs with an LBW. Rizwan was dismissed by young pacer Nahid Rana for 29 runs.
After Saim and Shan, Aga Salman was Pakistan’s last significant resistance. Battling against the flow, Salman scored 54 off 95 balls. Taskin claimed him as his third wicket. Miraz also dismissed Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, and Abrar Ahmed, taking his tenth five-wicket haul in Test innings, making him the third among Bangladeshi bowlers. Shakib and Nahid Rana each took one wicket.
