Sri Lanka in deep trouble in first Test – The Island

On the third day, which included practice sessions of varying lengths (including a three-hour morning session) due to Friday prayers, Bangladesh's batters survived a period of initial hostility before prevailing against Pakistan's bowlers in a thrilling battle for first-innings honours in the Test in Rawalpindi.

Shadman Islam laid the foundation for Bangladesh's resistance with a score of 93 over five and a half hours, and Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das built on that with half-centuries of their own. At stumps, Bangladesh were five points behind and 132 behind Pakistan's first innings total, with Mushfiqur and Litton at bat, scoring an unbroken 98.

Litton joined Mushfiqur at a crucial moment in Bangladesh's innings. Mohammad Ali had removed Shadman with the last ball before tea and Shakib Al Hasan was out early when he chipped Saim Ayub's part-time spin to the fielder at cover. The sixth-wicket pair quickly took control of the situation, running at more than five per over and launching a decisive counter-attack against Pakistan's fast bowlers when they got the second new ball late in the day. Bangladesh scored 67 in the last 11 overs of the day, with Litton displaying some exquisite strokeplay in the process.

The highlight came in the 89th over of Bangladesh's innings – the 77th of the day – when Litton ran down Naseem Shah. He stepped out and chipped the first ball of the over straight over the bowler for a one-bounce four, and followed it up with a display of pulling and hooking – two unstoppable fours and a massive six over square leg – to cross the half-century mark.

This over brought 18. After conceding just 15 runs in the first 12 overs of the innings and taking one wicket in that time, Naseem conceded 62 in his last eight. These numbers reflected Pakistan's overall fortunes: Bangladesh's scoring rate rose from 2.97 in the first session to 3.33 in the second to 5.08 in the third.

However, Pakistan still have a 132-run lead and begin the fourth day knowing that they are two wickets away from Bangladesh's lower batting order.

However, they had to work extremely hard for the five wickets they took, in conditions that were excellent for batting once the first new ball lost its shine. However, Pakistan's discipline and stamina for most of the day meant that Bangladesh also had to work hard to earn their late streak of points.

Bangladesh began the day with 27 runs for no loss and scored just 12 runs in 12 overs before the first drinks break, losing Zakir Hasan. Naseem and Shaheen Shah Afridi were relentless with their attempts in the channel, finding enough movement to threaten the rising bats, and Bangladesh's top three largely withstood them through a combination of skill, judgement and a little luck.

However, Pakistan made their breakthrough in the fifth over of the day when Naseem's angle over the left-hander and a little outside seam movement and extra bounce saw Zakir push hard hands away from the body. Mohammad Rizwan – who returned as keeper after leaving the field with cramp at the end of the second day – flew to his left to complete the catch from the on-side.

The runs flowed a little quicker when the third and fourth seamers came on the field, and Najmul Hossain Shanto drove Shahzad crisply for fours through mid-off and extra cover when he bowled too wide. But these were marginal errors from Shahzad, as he bowled to a plan that saw him bring Shanto forward at fuller length and pitch the ball to him from around the wicket. After getting Shanto used to front-foot drives and blocks to the cover region with a slightly open face, he pulled back his length a little and managed to bring a ball back from the seam and bowl it comprehensively through the gate.

Bangladesh were leading by 53 for 2 and the seven overs before the next drinks break brought Shadman and Mominul only 12 runs.

Through it all, Shadman batted confidently, apart from a few clumsy moments at short ball when he swatted away the pull with the top edge of Mohammad Ali and Shahzad and the ball landed safely in front of the long leg fielder on both occasions.

However much Pakistan pressed, the three-hour first session was always going to be a challenge for them. After going without a boundary for the first two hours of the day, Shadman found redemption when Shaheen served a pair of freebies in the 24th over of the morning, hitting a half-volley to the cover boundary and returning a full toss past the bowler. He then stepped up to Salman Ali Agha and drove him through the covers for another boundary to reach 40.

Naseem went back on the attack and his day, which had started so brightly, began to crumble when he conceded three fours in his last two overs before lunch. Mominul hit two balls in succession – a cheeky uppercut across the slips followed by a deliberate step back and across to hit a just-short ball flat past mid-on – before Shadman ended the session with a pulled four to reach his fifty.

Shadman and Mominul scored 94 for the third wicket before Shahzad broke the partnership in the fourth over after lunch. The wicket was almost identical to Zakir's: a fairly long drive from the round of the wicket drew Mominul half-forward to defend, and an inside seam movement broke the gap between bat and pad.

Pakistan came close to being given an LBW twice soon after when Shahzad reviewed a not out call for an inducer against Mushfiqur Rahim and Shadman reviewed an out call for a slider from offspinner Salman Ali Agha. Both reviews went in Bangladesh's favour.

As the second session progressed, Shadman became more and more dangerous, taking 64 runs to 93 in just 25 balls, hitting six fours. Then Ali took a leaf out of Shahzad's playbook and bowled him out with the last ball before tea: once again a ball from around the wicket that hit the left-hander and sent him through the net.

Short reviews: [Stumps day 3]
Bangladesh 316 for 5 in 92 overs (Shadman Islam 93, Mushfiqur Rahim 55*, Litton Das 52*, Mominul Haque 50; Khurram Shahzad 2-47) path Pakistan 448 for 6 December in 113 overs [Saim Ayub 56, Saud Shakeel 141, Mohammad Rizwan 171*, Shaheen Sha Afridi 29*;  Soriful Islam 2-77, Hasan Mahmud 2-70] with 132 runs

[Cricinfo]