PAK vs BAN: Pakistan in trouble as Bangladesh sniff out victory in Rawalpindi Test – International

Pakistan are in trouble on the final day of their first Test against Bangladesh, to be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Pakistan finished their innings at 108-6 with Mohammad Rizwan (22) and Shaheen Afridi (1) in the field, while the hosts were still nine runs behind.

The hosts began the fifth day trailing by 94 runs with captains Shan Masood (9) and Abdullah Shafique (12) at bat.

Shortly after play resumed on the fifth day, the hosts lost their captain for just 14 runs. Babar Azam came in to bat after Masood's dismissal, but the 29-year-old ended up losing his wicket for 22 runs.

Pakistan started losing wickets at regular intervals as Saud Shakeel (0) and Salman Ali Agha (0) failed to score a single run.

Earlier, Bangladesh had taken a 117-run lead on the fourth day of the first Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium when they scored 565 to reply to Pakistan's 448/6.

The experienced Mushfiqur Rahim shone with an epic 191 points from 341 balls, including 22 fours and a six.

The day was dominated by him and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who scored 77 from 179 balls.

The day began with the visitors reaching a batting average of 316-5 in 92 overs, with Mushfiqur (55 off 122) and Liton Das (52 off 58) at bat.

Shortly after play resumed, Naseem Shah took Das off and Mohammad Rizwan caught the ball.

However, Rahim stood firm and ended up scoring a brilliant century, becoming the third batsman to score a ton of points in the ongoing Test.

Rahim and Miraz formed a formidable partnership to push Pakistan on the defensive. Rahim was on course to score his fourth double century but he missed out on nine runs as Mohammad Ali took him out.

Pakistan ended Bangladesh's innings after Rahim's dismissal. Shaheen Afridi removed Hasan Mahmud and Miraz while Naseem took the wicket of Shoriful Islam, who scored 22 runs off 14 balls.

Playing teams

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ali, Khurram Shahzad

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumer Das, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana

The Test matches between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be played as part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023–25 as both teams will be keen to perform well and strengthen their position in the WTC points table.

Both teams have met in 13 matches in six test series so far. The Green Shirts emerged victorious in 12 matches and one ended in a draw.