Bangladesh beat Pakistan for the first time in history in the first Test of the two-match bilateral series by a whopping margin of ten wickets. The historical even took place at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday, August 25. The hosts batted well in the first innings. However, they were bowled out for an embarrassing 146 in their second. It allowed the Tigers, who enjoyed their sizeable first-innings lead, to cruise to a comfortable victory.
Pakistan was lacklustre when they were bowling in the first innings and did not stick to any plan whatsoever. They erred in their lines and lengths and allowed Bangladesh to post a massive total of 565. The hosts batted first, and despite an inordinate rain delay, they could post a total of 448-6, after which they declared. Saud Shakeel and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan scored brilliant centuries, 141 and 171, respectively. This helped prop the Pakistani total up to such mammoth heights.
Skipper Shan Masood declared early that this first innings total would be enough to challenge the inexperienced Bangladeshis. Yet, he had not factored in the experience of Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan. They anchored the visitors through their innings and played significant knocks.
Rahim scored a blistering 191, and although Shakib got out for 15, his intent to score runs helped his team gain momentum over the Pakistanis. Opener Shadman Islam laid the groundwork for Bangladesh by scoring 93. Yet, he would have been highly disappointed to miss out on his century by a mere seven runs.
Half-centuries from Litton Das (56) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (77) allowed Bangladesh’s tail to wag more than the hosts would have expected. This allowed them to pick up a considerable lead of 121 runs. In the second innings, Pakistan’s batters imploded only like they could and were bowled out for a mere 146.
Shakib led the Bangladeshi bowlers with a three-wicket haul, while Mehidy returned figures of 4-21. Bangladesh had no trouble chasing the target down in their second innings. They did so without losing a wicket, in turn picking up their first Test win over Pakistan.
