Pakistan had it all to do as they resumed proceedings on Day 4 with a slender lead of just 21 runs. The hosts started off the day quite well with Saim Ayub and Shan Masood stroking four boundaries in total off the first four overs of the day as the hosts aimed to keep the momentum going.
A couple of quiet overs led to the fall of the first wicket as Ayub fell to a blinder of a grab by Najmul Hossain Shanto who was stationed at wide mid-off region. Barely four overs later, the pressure got to Masood (28 off 34 balls) as ended up playing a loose shot to throw away his wicket.
in what was a jittery moment, the 19th over saw Mohammad Rizwan getting an edge which was dropped by the fielder at first slip. However, as the ball went away to the ropes, it resulted in favour of Pakistan adding on the lead. But it was what happened before the aforementioned events which was of the most pivotal importance for Bangladesh – the wicket of Babar Azam.
Babar had a disappointing outing once again as he edged one to the first slip with Nahid Rana gliding away to the boundary rope in a moment of intense gusto. A 55-run stand between Rizwan and Salman Agha brought tranquillity amidst all that had gone down, but it was Hasan Mahmud, whose double strikes undid all the hard work done up until then. Nahid Rana struck in a similar fashion as Mahmud a few moments later.
With only one wicket remaining, it was all up to Salman Agha to take it upon himself and take the bulk of the strike, much like he had done in the first innings. Four fours and a maximum ensued but neither could Agha add more runs to the otherwise poor Pakistani batting performance, nor could he manage to bring up his eighth Test match fifty as he inside-edged a delivery which made its way to the slips to award Mahmud his first five-wicket haul in Tests.
Mahmud’s five-for was the first such milestone for a pacer from Bangladesh in a Test in Pakistan. Moreover, it was the Bangla Tigers’ first in the red-ball format where all 10 wickets of the opposition in an innings were taken by fast bowlers. With the conditions overcast and cloud cover increasing with there being more than a day to spare to chase down the 185-run target, one would’ve expected a conservative approach by the visitors. However, the six overs before Tea was taken was anything but the above-mentioned template as Zakir Hasan made his intentions blatantly clear from the get-go.
Only one over was possible in the third session before play was interrupted by bad light and subsequently called off due to a steady pattern of precipitation. It was amply clear that Bangladesh were going for the kill, they would understandably be the more displeased of the two sides. The forecast for the remainder of today as well as tomorrow has rain on its itinerary, and Bangladesh would desperately hope for a couple of sessions to the very minimum in a bid to script a historic clean-sweep.
Here’s how the fans reacted to Day 4 of the game:
In the ongoing Test series between Bangladesh and Pakistan, Litton Das played a crucial innings to keep the match balanced in Rawalpindi.#LitonDas #Bangladesh #Pakistan #ICC #TestMatch #Rawalpindi #Century pic.twitter.com/Kca0DzVHbT
— little things (@littlethings94k) September 2, 2024
Pathetic performance by Pakistan. Losing wickets like a torrential downpour at home. Another test match, another loss looming. Meanwhile Bangladesh has been outstanding.#PAKvsBAN
— 𝔸𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕪❁ (@wordsbyher_) September 2, 2024
The ground in Rawalpindi is still not fully covered, this could prevent Bangladesh from a famous Test series win tomorrow 🇧🇩😭😭
And if there’s no more play tomorrow, Pakistan will still lose the series 1-0. This is really tense now 🇵🇰💔#PAKvBAN #tapmad #HojaoADFree pic.twitter.com/lQhsumZJWr
— mktv (@faisalk00655577) September 2, 2024
#Pakistan team was all out after scoring 172runs. #Bangladesh has been given a target of 185 to complete a series clean sweep . #HasanMahmud took a 5 wicket haul.#AghaSalman played brilliant 47* inning. #PAKvBAN pic.twitter.com/zmxUneOm4J
— DK Lakhlan (@DkLakhlan) September 2, 2024
READY FOR An exciting Test Cricket finish loading 🔥
Historic series win for #Bangladesh tomorrow? 📷#BANvsPAK | #PAKvBAN | #PAKvsBAN #BANvPAK https://t.co/LTzOhmDvwY pic.twitter.com/awmvGa9fTO
— Dilbag Koundal ਦਿਲਬਾਗ ਕੌਂਡਲ 🇮🇳 (@dilbag_koundal) September 2, 2024
Are ghaffar besharm
First test me bangladesh ne fist innings me 565 kuch run banaye or is test me 264 jase run banaye or second Pari me to abhi tak 1 wkt pakistan ke tuche bowler nahi le sake na pahle test me na is test me or tu 143 defend karne ka bol raha
— Sandeep 🇮🇳 (@hitvees) September 2, 2024
cros DAY 4 | DUE TO RAIN. 🌧️
Bangladesh require another 143 runs with 10 wickets in hand to seal another historic Test win and the series as well. ⏳#PAKvsBAN #Cricket #Trending pic.twitter.com/v0GOWV4S5b
— Maryam Rajpoot (@Maryam__Rajpoot) September 2, 2024
Qudrat ka nizam working?? 😭😭
But literally Bangladesh deserves to win, how they manage to come back from 26-6 to 262. They outclass Pakistan in every department. High time for Pakistan to learn from mistakes.
Ban need 142 runs to win on day 5 of test match.
#PAKvsBAN pic.twitter.com/P7bpt2kqgs
— Babar Azam’s World (@Babrazam358) September 2, 2024