A near-flawless session by Bangladesh, as they added 118 runs to the score, brought Pakistan’s lead down to 81 on Day 3 of the second Test at Rawalpindi. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Litton Das notched up their half-centuries as the batters took full advantage of an older ball and erratic lines and lengths by the Pakistan bowlers. Khurram Shahzad got the breakthrough of Mehidy and Taskin just before the Tea break, adding the sixth wicket to his tally.
Bangladesh began the session dealing in boundaries as Litton hit Shahzad for two boundaries through gully off wide deliveries. Couple of overs later, Litton went one better off the same bowler as he scored three boundaries through gully, a drive down the ground and a pull behind square. Mehidy rounded off the over with a boundary through extra cover to complete a massive 17-run over for the visitors.
The pair continued their counter-attack against Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Ali scoring boundaries at will and rotating strike. They ran the twos well, assisted by the bigger square boundaries at Rawalpindi. The 100-run partnership was brought up with a boundary through gully. The pair that came together at 26/6, also managed to avoid follow-on.
Litton brought up his 18th Test 50, with a clip to deep backward square leg. Mehidy soon followed suit, with a cut to backward point to bring up his milestone. Overpitched deliveries by the Abrar Ahmed and Mir Hamza were duly punished by the batters.
Shahzad was brought back close to the tea-break and was immediately treated with disdain. Litton took him on with a four and a six on the leg-side. Mehidy gave him the same treatment two overs later, while Litton rounded the over with another six.
Shahzad had the last laugh however, as he got one to hold on to the pitch which Mehidy chipped straight back to the bowler, having played it a tad early. He picked up his sixth as Taskin was late to bring his bat down in time and was struck on the pad off an in-dipper.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 274 (Saim Ayub 58, Shan Masood 57; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-61, Taskin Ahmed 3-57) lead Bangladesh 193/8 (Litton Das 83*, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 78; Khurram Shahzad 6-73, Mir Hamza 2-45) by 81 runs
