Bangladesh have finally done it. After 13 unsuccessful attempts and 21 years since the heartbreak in Multan, Bangladesh have secured their first-ever Test cricket victory against Pakistan, winning by 10 wickets at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
The victory was achieved in style, with openers Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan quickly erasing the deficit to clinch a 10-wicket win in Rawalpindi.
What Bashar, Rafique, Sujon, and their teammates couldn’t accomplish in Multan, Shanto, Mushfiqur, Shakib, and others have achieved in 2024. It was a comprehensive team effort from Bangladesh, with Mushfiqur Rahim leading the charge with a 191-run innings. There were also four more half-centuries in Bangladesh’s sole innings.
With the ball, the pacers excelled in the first innings, but it was the spinners who remarkably transformed a seemingly steady game into an exciting one with their superb bowling on a fifth-day pitch.
Mehedi Hasan Miraz scalped four wickets, while Shakib Al Hasan grabbed three as Bangladesh bowled out Pakistan for 146, the lowest total for Pakistan against Bangladesh in Test cricket.
The three pacers, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, and Nahid Rana, each took a wicket, leaving Bangladesh with only 30 runs to chase for a historic first-ever victory against Pakistan.
Mohammad Rizwan was dismissed while attempting to sweep Miraz from outside the off-stump, shortly after reaching his half-century. The wicketkeeper-batsman had scored 51 runs off 80 balls when he tried the sweep, only to drag the ball back onto the stumps, extinguishing Pakistan’s last hope of avoiding defeat.
Pakistan were leading by only 25 runs with one wicket remaining. Mehedi Hasan Miraz dismissed Shaheen Shah Afridi with a delivery that barely rose off the ground and struck Afridi in front of the stumps. The hosts were still in deficit with three wickets in hand.
Naseem Shah did not last long, departing for three runs off 22 balls while attempting to hit his way out of trouble against Shakib. Bangladesh’s bowlers wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up, reducing the hosts to 108 for six as the visitors sought their first-ever Test win against Pakistan. Pakistan were still trailing by nine runs, with two sessions left in the game.
Pakistan began the fifth day with just one wicket down, but the Bangladesh pacers applied intense pressure to claim two wickets in the first session before the spinners took over.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood (14) was the first to fall, edging one to the keeper off Hasan Mahmud. Then Shoriful Islam, who had dismissed Babar Azam for a duck in the first innings, induced an edge from the master batsman on nought, only for Liton Das to drop the straightforward chance.
However, young pacer Nahid Rana bowled Babar (22), and then Shakib Al Hasan dismissed Saud Shakeel for a duck as Bangladesh tightened their grip on the Pakistani batsmen.
Opener Abdullah Shafique was the next to fall, his 37-run vigil ended by Shakib as the batsman played a rash shot, only to be caught by Shadman Islam. Soon after, Mehedi Hasan Miraz had Agha Salman caught by Shadman for nought as Pakistan looked down the barrel. Mohammad Rizwan tried to be aggressive with Shaheen Afridi at the other end, but with the wicket offering turn for the spinners, Bangladesh were firmly in control.
