Bangladesh took firm control of the first Test in Chattogram in the middle session, following up on their brilliant morning to bowl the visitors out for 286. Lunch didn't appear to have impacted Taijul Islam's sharpness, the left-arm spinner adding a further four wickets to make it a seven-wicket haul in an almost single-handed crusade against the Pakistan line-up. There was the customary resistance from Faheem Ashraf in the lower middle order, without whom Pakistan would likely have been staring down the barrel of a three-figure trail, but the 44-run lead Bangladesh have is likely to be pivotal in the fourth innings against their spin attack.
Abid Ali's battle with Taijul was always going to be key to the winner of that session, and when the opener missed a routine flick through to the leg side, the umpire deemed it striking in front of the stumps. He had been responsible for 133 of Pakistan's 217 runs by then, but once Abid fell, the game appeared to have entered a different stage, and adopted a new intensity. Pakistan weren't just behind in the game, but also in danger of ceding a huge lead, and possibly being set an insurmountable fourth-innings target.
Mohammad Rizwan hadn't looked near his best and was put out of his misery by Ebadot Hossain, trapped plumb in front after a tortuous five runs knotted together in 38 deliveries. Having watched Pakistan crawl along at under 2.50 runs an over, Hasan Ali tried to be more enterprising. In a short and an entertaining stay at the crease, he used his feet and smashed a four and a six before the inherent risk in that approach came back to bite him. Bur when Hasan skipped down the pitch a touch too early, Taijul dragged his length back, giving Liton Das an easy stumping.
Bangladesh chipped away, Ebadot removing Sajid Khan, while Faheem worked on reducing Pakistan's first-innings deficit. The most contentious moment came when Nauman Ali was given out lbw on-field, a decision the TV umpire upheld despite a replay appearing to indicate an inside edge. UltraEdge wasn't conclusive, and to Pakistan's dismay, the on-field call was upheld.
Faheem and Shaheen Afridi went on to add 29 for the last wicket - the second-highest partnership of the innings - as Afridi played his shots and rode his luck, with Faheem uninterested in shielding him from the strike. It saw the session extended as Pakistan frustrated Bangladesh, but as ever, it was Taijul who struck the final blow, ensuring his side has a precious lead to work with.
Meanwhile, the answer to "how do you break a big partnership when the bowlers run out of ideas" clearly seemed to be to sleep on it. For the second day in succession, the bowling side found an almost immediate breakthrough in the morning that had eluded them for the previous two sessions. This time Bangladesh were the beneficiaries, breaking a 146-run stand off just the fifth ball of the morning, before Taijul made it two in two by following up the Abdullah Shafique dismissal with a golden duck for Azhar Ali.
Babar Azam and Fawad Alam were then added to the casualty list in a session which the Bangladesh spinners commanded from start to finish, leaving Pakistan somewhat precariously perched at 203 for 4 at lunch, still 127 runs behind. However, Abid batted relentlessly from one end, having reached his fourth Test hundred, even if, in a session like that, it felt like a footnote.
Taijul bowled the first over of the morning well, and from the get-go, Bangladesh had their tails up. Shafique was fortunate to survive an lbw appeal early on in his innings when Bangladesh failed to review, but when Taijul skidded one through, the debutant's bat came down far too late to trap him lbw. Azhar, struggling for runs, was squared up by one that turned away and struck him on the back leg first ball, and even though the umpire turned Bangladesh down, they were not about to let this one go unreviewed. The ball was hitting middle, and Azhar walked back in front of a Chattogram crowd that felt fully alive despite the early morning start.
It appeared to be one of those wickets where you don't truly appreciate the value of a partnership until it is broken. As Bangladesh's lower middle order struggled to achieve the sure-footedness of Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das, Babar - and Fawad after him - never once looked comfortable against a Bangladesh spin attack that prowled, hunting for wickets. The Pakistan captain was done by a lovely bit of bowling from Mehidy Hasan Miraz, as he played completely down the wrong line only to see the ball cannon into off stump.
It was Fawad's dismissal, though, that might illustrate the advantage of not having to bat last. One from Taijul appeared to have landed in a footmark and ripped back in to tuck Fawad up, the ball kissing his glove on its way through to a sharp catch by the keeper.
From the other end, Abid was a sea of calm. He had watched the drama unfold, and brought up three figures early in the session with a flick through midwicket. He wasn't totally immune from hazard though, fortunate to see first slip fluff up an outside edge; but for the most part, he seemed to be batting on a different wicket.
None of the batters that followed managed to find that surety, though, and will almost certainly have a mountain to climb if they are to keep their unbeaten Test record against Bangladesh intact.
Source: ESPNcricinfo