2nd Test Days 1+2 BAN V PAK

Day 1 

Pakistan 323 for 3 v Bangladesh

An invigorated Younis Khan and a determined Azhar Ali took command of the second Test, putting on 250 for the third wicket, as Pakistan loped to 323 for 3 at stumps. Azhar and Younis defused the early menace when they came together at 58 for 2, began to counterpunch in the second session and were bludgeoning Bangladesh around the Shere Bangla when Younis was dismissed for 148 off 195, with only five full overs to play in the day. Azhar stayed not out on 127, having ridden early luck.

Seduced by an unusually dense covering of grass on the Mirpur surface, Mushfiqur Rahim was dealt a poor hand. He had already gambled by bowling first with only two seamers in the attack. Two balls into the match Shahadat Hossain - who had come into the side for the injured Rubel Hossain - hobbled off the field after taking a tumble during his delivery stride. Mushfiqur was forced to rely on part-time seamer Soumya Sarkar and a phalanx of spinners, who were defanged by a first-day pitch that offered only modest turn. That both centurions should have been out earlier if bowlers had not delivered no balls, added to Mushfiqur's considerable stress.

The seam movement Mushfiqur had anticipated played a role in Mohammad Hafeez' dismissal, when Shahid set him up with lifter that jagged back in, then drew the edge with a straighter delivery. That dismissal had Pakistan at 9 for 1, but the injury to Shahadat prevented Bangladesh from pushing as hard as they could have in the first hour. With lunch in sight, they took their second wicket, when Sami Aslam ran at Taijul, and put him in the hands of deep midwicket.

There was tug-and-pull in the first overs of the Azhar-Younis association, as Azhar overcame a series of close calls. Earlier in the morning, he was walking back to the dressing room after edging Mohammad Shahid to third slip, when replays showed the bowler had not landed his heel behind the popping crease. Reprieved on 18, Azhar gave further chances off spin at 34 and 35 to Mominul Haque at silly point and short leg. Both times the ball whizzed quickly between the fielder's legs before he could get low enough.

Younis deadbatted his way to 1 off 15 before lunch, but opened his shoulders in the second session, clearing his front leg to send the spinners over mid-on - once for six - before masterfully employing the sweep to raise the tempo further. By the fourth hour of the day, a pattern to his progress emerged. Every now and then, he'd interrupt the steady thrum of singles he and Azhar had worked up, to shuffle forward into a sweep. He'd watch for the overcorrection next ball then play off the back foot, often finding runs square on the off side. He reached 50 off 72 balls and by late-afternoon, his strike rate hovered around 75.

Azhar meanwhile, sunk time into re-establishing himself at the crease after his early scares, and was only punishing bad balls for most of the day. Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam attempted a variety of plans, tempting Azhar outside off in the second session to lure another mistake. But Azhar gritted through this, while Younis gave the innings impetus at the other end.

Younis was the first to his hundred after tea, but not before he too was called back to the crease, after presenting a catch to short cover. Soumya had overstepped to reprieve him on 78, and then Younis breezed through to the second new ball, reaching his 29th Test ton with a tow to deep cover to end a period of relative calm, before attacking again. A slog-swept six over deep midwicket off Shakib heralded the charge, which Azhar soon joined. His made his eighth trip to triple-figures by launching Taijul down the ground for four.

With neither spinners nor seamers able to glean much from the old ball, Mushfiqur threw his part-timers at Pakistan, who were only too glad to face them. By the 80th over, Pakistan's run rate had ticked above 3.5.

Shahid broke the stand with the second new ball, when he had Younis slicing to backward point, two runs short of his 150. Misbah-ul-Haq announced himself at the crease with a six over long-on off the second ball he faced, but otherwise he and Azhar were content to hunker down till stumps.


Day 2

Bangladesh 107 for 5 trail Pakistan 557 for 8 dec by 450 runs

Pakistan claimed five wickets before stumps, after declaring on 557 for 8 to take the Mirpur Test by the collar on the second day. Their batting gains were led by Azhar Ali, who moved to a maiden double ton, and Asad Shafiq, who struck a sprightly 107 after arriving at the crease in the second over of the day. The pair struck 207 runs in each other's company, then ceded the stage to the bowlers, who ripped out Bangladesh's top order in the final session.

Junaid Khan claimed Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque in an inspired six-over burst with the new ball, before Yasir Shah beat Imrul Kayes in the flight in his first over, and later, bowled Mushfiqur Rahim with a googly off what would be the last ball of the day. Just before that, Wahab Riaz had Mahmudullah fending a vicious lifter to short leg, and Bangladesh went to stumps 450 runs adrift, in grave danger of having to follow on. Had Younis Khan held an outside edge at slip off Yasir, Shakib Al Hasan may have been out as well.

The Shere Bangla track appeared placid while the Bangladesh bowlers toiled on it for much of the day. But Junaid, moving the ball both ways at pace, had the batsmen poking. He slipped three awayswingers to Tamim first up, before nailing the in-form batsman in front of the stumps with one that curved in. Tamim was struck above the knee roll, and perhaps thought the ball to be sliding down, but his review was unsuccessful as projections had the ball shaving leg stump.

Undeterred, Imrul cracked four fours in Junaid's next over, before the bowler gathered himself. Mominul Haque was untroubled by the other seamer Imran Khan, but faced ten scoreless Junaid deliveries before presenting a faint under-edge to the wicketkeeper on 13. That ball and the one immediately before it had stayed unusually low, adding weight to suspicion that the pitch was becoming more difficult to bat on.

Junaid had drawn false strokes from Imrul as well, but the batsman continued to play freely until Yasir removed him in his first over. Seducing Imrul into a drive, Yasir got the ball to dip and grip dramatically, to clatter into the stumps off the batsman's pads. He sucked Shakib into a cut next ball, but Younis could not hold the sharp chance to his right. Yasir would get a second scalp regardless. In the last over of the day, he showed Mushfiqur a huge legbreak, ripping away from off stump, before pitching a googly in the same area next ball. Having failed to read the ball, Mushfiqur played a cut, but had his stumps splayed.

Wahab looked for swing in his first spell without much success, before reverting to the bouncer late in the day. He tried three to Mahmudullah. The first was deflected fine for four, and the second ducked beneath, but the third followed the rearing batsman, homing in on his throat, and he could do little else but fend at it with hard hands. Mohammad Hafeez took a simple catch close-in.

Azhar had been fortunate to survive till stumps on the first day, having given three clear chances, but was more secure on Thursday, while Shafiq kept the scoreboard moving quickly at the other end. Misbah-ul-Haq was cleverly bowled by Shakib in the second over the day, but that was as hopeful as the Bangladesh bowling effort got.

Azhar and Shafiq played out Mohammad Shahid's tight early overs, then slipped into a comfortable routine against the spinners. Shafiq would charge, with his sights on the legside boundary, while Azhar turned the strike over, and attacked only when bad balls came. They batted this way for around three hours, picking up milestones along the way. The occasional ball turned or kept low, but too few of them troubled either man.

Azhar survived a few nervous moments in the 190s, when Mushfiqur stitched a tight ring of fielders around him, but the batsman eventually ran at Shakib and hit him into the sightscreen to spark a joyful celebration. Shafiq's sixth trip to triple figures was more humdrum. He slammed Taijul Islam to the deep midwicket fence to move to 98 early in the afternoon session, then worked two more singles in the next over to become Pakistan's third centurion of the innings.

The pair surged when 400 was passed, in preparation for the declaration. Mushfiqur, for his part, was perhaps guilty of falling into a holding pattern too early, and of under-bowling the tenacious Shahid. Late in the afternoon both batsmen would fall in pursuit of quick runs, however. They attempted to hit Shuvagata Hom into the sightscreen, and mis-hit the ball to Mahmudullah at long off. Azhar's 226 came off 428 balls, and Shafiq had made his ton at a strike rate of 64.

Sarfaraz Ahmed struck an unbeaten run-a-ball 21 as wickets tumbled around him. Misbah's declaration came at tea, and Pakistan's bowlers produced perhaps their most dominant stretch of play in the tour. The hosts, however, might reflect that they played too many shots.