Tea Bangladesh495 for 6 (Mushfiqur 173*, Litton 56, Mehidy 50*, Shahzad 2-81, Naseem 2-92) lead Pakistan 448 for 6 decl by 47 runs
Bangladesh were 316 for 5 and trailing by 132 at the start of the day, but when they saw there was nothing in the pitch for the bowlers and Pakistan had no frontline spinner, the visitors changed gears at will, took on the spinners once in a position of strength, and hardly gave any chances to Pakistan.
Mushfiqur started the day slowly before picking up pace just before lunch to reach his century, and carried on after the break with solid technique and patience. The only time he came close to getting dismissed in the first session was when Mohammad Ali went wide of the crease to trap him lbw, on 59, but a review overturned the on-field decision. Ali jagged one sharply into Mushfiqur with the help of movement off the pitch to trap the batter in front of leg stump that saw the umpire raise his finger. Mushfiqur, however, reviewed with success with ball-tracker showing the ball missing leg stump. Bangladesh had started the day with all three reviews intact while Pakistan had none left in the bank. Once Litton Das edged one behind off Naseem Shah’s short delivery outside off which he failed to get on top of, Mushfiqur hit the pedal especially when Pakistan brought on spin from both ends just before lunch.
Once Mehidy, whose technique wasn’t as compact as Mushfiqur’s in the first session, collected the first two fours of the day in consecutive overs from Khurram Shahzad, Mushfiqur raced from 73 to 100 in just 20 balls. He punished Shahzad for two more fours in an over – a deft steer through gully and a punch through the covers – before also driving Shaheen Shah Afridi straight for four in the next over, to race to 88. With Bangladesh chipping away at the deficit and Pakistan desperate for wickets, Shan Masood brought on spin from both ends with 12 minutes left for lunch and Mushfiqur cashed in. He smote Saim Ayub for back-to-back fours, first against the turn over midwicket and then to the long-on rope, to reach 96, and in the next over nudged one to the leg side for two to spark off animated celebrations for his hundred.
The partnership between Mushfiqur and Mehidy had crossed 50 before lunch and they looked even more impenetrable in the second session. The temperature had crossed 35 degrees Celsius, Pakistan had bowled over 100 overs already and it was going to take something extraordinary to take the remaining four wickets quickly. Pakistan will still be disappointed that they couldn’t take even one of those in the second session.
Mehidy looked a lot more assured after lunch and Mushfiqur continued to play the ball late and right under his eyes to collect runs. Ali soon resorted to a short-ball plan for Mehidy by placing six fielders on the leg side, but the fast bowler’s lines failed to create opportunities and they quickly moved away from that tactic.
The real chance of dismissing Mushfiqur came after he reached 150, when he tickled the ball down leg where Babar Azam put down a catch at leg slip to his left. Playing second-fiddle to the senior batter, Mehidy moved along to his half-century ten minutes before the tea break and in the last over before the break, Mushfiqur smacked Salman for a four over extra cover and then almost for a six to the long-on boundary, hinting that Bangladesh may even declare with two-and-a-half hours and an entire day left in the game.
