Lunch Bangladesh 389 for 6 (Mushfiqur 101*, Mehidy 17*) lane Pakistan 448 on 6 dec. in 59
In contrast to the 67 runs they scored in the last 11 overs on day three, Bangladesh batted slowly in the first hour of day four before Mushfiqur and Mehidy stepped up to punish the hosts in hot and humid conditions. Mushfiqur used a more patient approach when the match started, as did Litton, as the duo brought up their century in the second year of the day. Both the batsmen presented a straight belt in abundance against Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Ali. Given nothing from the bowlers, they defended the length balls with ease, squared them when they were reached, and pushed down when it was a bit full, showing no rush to score runs.
Ali made Pakistan’s first celebration when he used an angle from wide of the crease to trap Mushfiqur, on 59, lbw but the review overturned the on-field decision. Just after half an hour, Ali bowled one to Mushfiqur with the help of an off-fielder to trap the striker in front of leg stump which saw the umpire raise his finger. Mushfiqur, however, successfully updated the ball tracker which showed the ball missing the leg stump. Bangladesh had started the day with all revisions complete while Pakistan didn’t have a single in the bank.
Pakistan did not have to wait long to get a wicket. The breakthrough came with a change of bowling when Naseem Shah bowled his first over of the day. Unlike the other bowlers, Naseem was quick to use a short ball outside off when Litton failed to get to the top when he tried to cut, then edged past the wicketkeeper after adding four runs to his overnight score of 52.
With six batsmen dismissed, Pakistan would have thought they had a better chance of taking the lead, but Mushfiqur and Mehidy dashed those hopes by scoring runs.
Mehidy’s approach was not as compact as Mushfiqur’s, but he collected runs without taking too much risk and was even tested by Khurram Shahzad’s bouncer. Mehidy, however, stood up to respond with a fine pull on the next ball when Shahzad hit one short and brought up the first boundary of the day. He hit his second off Shahzad’s next over at gully and passed the baton to Mushfiqur, who was in his 70s. Mushfiqur punished Shahzad for two more fours in the over – a deft steer through gully and a hit to cover – before driving Afridi straight for four in the next over, running from 73 to 88 in just nine balls .
With Bangladesh trailing by 78 and Pakistan looking for wickets, Shan Masood bowled spin at both ends 12 minutes before lunch and Mushfiqur cashed in on the part-timers. He hit Saim Ayub with four back-to-back balls, first against the turn over midwicket and then to long-on, reaching 96, and in the next he edged one down the leg side for two to spark musical celebrations. His first Test century against Pakistan.
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