Bangladesh brush aside Pakistan in historic 2-0 sweep

On what will go down as a red-letter day in Bangladesh's cricket history, their batters stood tall with important contributions right through as they inflicted a 2-0 clean sweep over Pakistan with a six-wicket win on the fifth afternoon in Rawalpindi.

Chasing 185, Zakir Hasan scored 40, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque made steady 30s, and the experienced pair of Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan wrapped things up, sparking celebrations in the Bangladesh change room. There was a sense of calmness with which Bangladesh went about achieving their third-highest successful chase in Test cricket.

An overseas Test victory, let alone a series win, is a rare event in Bangladesh cricket. This was only their fourth win in 20 overseas Tests in the last seven years and just their third Test series victory overseas.

For Pakistan, it added to their misery, with this loss extending their winless run at home to ten Tests. Since a win against South Africa in early February 2021, they have had four draws and six defeats, which include series defeats to Australia, England and now Bangladesh.

Heading into the second session, Bangladesh required 63 runs with eight wickets in hand. Shanto tried a few reverse sweeps and even got a four through backward point but failed to carry on for long. It was the softest of dismissals, with him bunting a straight delivery from Salman Agha to Abdullah Shafique at short leg.

Mominul, who was mostly sedate in the first session, got busy after Shanto fell. He cut Agha through point before getting another four off Mir Hamza, albeit off an edge. By then, Pakistan were desperate for wickets and burnt two reviews in two balls for lbw appeals against Mushfiqur; there was an inside edge onto the pad both times.

Mominul's aggression got the better of him when he mistimed Abrar Ahmed straight to mid-off. But Mushfiqur and Shakib made sure there were no more errors. They took their time, rarely played a shot in anger, and inched towards the target. Shakib hit Abrar for a straight six to bring the target under 20 before hitting the winning four off the same bowler through covers. With the win, Bangladesh jumped past England to be fourth on the World Test Championship table.

In the morning, Bangladesh resumed from 42 for no loss. Shadman Islam began with a crisp square cut to get things going but the Pakistan bowlers dictated the terms for the first 45 minutes. Mohammad Ali should have had Zakir's wicket when the batter went after a good-length ball outside off and seemingly missed it. Replays showed there was a bottom edge but none of the fielders appealed.

Zakir didn't last long, though. Hamza, who had found the right spot on good length outside off, got a ball to angle in from the over-the-wicket line. It beat Zakir's outside edge and took the top of off stump.

Hamza and Ali bowled a string of dot balls, ensuring no easy runs. When Shanto finally got off the mark off his tenth ball, it was the first runs in 25 deliveries. Hamza then induced a thick outside edge off Shadman's bat but it flew to the left of Agha at second slip. He made a valiant effort, diving one-handed, but failed to latch on. It would have been a regulation catch for third slip, but that position was left vacant.

Shadman failed to make much of the reprieve, falling eight balls later to a loose drive. Khurram Shahzad bowled one full outside off, with the opener driving on the up and straight to a pumped-up Shan Masood.

But Shanto and Mominul quashed Pakistan's hopes of a comeback. The hosts did have their chances, drawing the odd edge but the ball evaded the fielders. Shanto and Mominul knew time wasn't the issue, and they got the target down slowly.

Shanto still took the aggressive route a few times, like uppishly flicking Ali through midwicket and then smashing Shahzad down the ground, but Mominul was content with singles. The only time Mominul showed some aggression was when he slog-swept Abrar through midwicket for four.

Masood rung in the changes and brought back Hamza, but Shanto and Mominul managed to survive till lunch. Pakistan did dislodge the duo eventually, but there weren't enough runs to defend, and they went down in front of a sparse home crowd.