Bangladesh trail Pakistan by 132 at end of day 3

PAK vs BAN
Rawalpindi
The third day game of the first Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh concluded on Friday with visitors trailing hosts by 132 runs with five wickets in hand at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
With an impressive display of batting by the visiting team, Bangladesh scored 316-5 in 92 overs while aiming to reduce the margin on day four.
The guests began their innings at 27 for no loss at the start of the third day with Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan on the crease.
In the fifth over of day three, which was 17th overall, Hasan tried to play a shot at cover, but he got an outside edge on Naseem Shah’s delivery and Mohammad Rizwan took a brilliant catch to end his innings.
Soon after Hasan’s dismissal, the hosts got another breakthrough with Khurram Shahzad removing skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto’s stumps, leaving the visitors at 53-2 in 27 overs.
However, after losing two wickets, Bangladesh started batting with caution and did not give away any wickets. Islam and Mominul Haque formed an 81-run partnership which helped the visitors score 134-2 in 48 overs before the end of the first session.
Pakistan managed to get wickets later in the day as Shahzad removed Haque (50 off 76) while Mohammad Ali bowled Shadman out for 93 runs.
Saim Ayub provided another breakthrough to Pakistan by removing the experienced Shakib Al Hasan but Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das formed a 98-run partnership which strengthened their grip on the Test.
Rahim (55 off 122) and Das (52 off 58) will resume the innings for Bangladesh on day four.
Earlier on day two, Pakistan declared their innings at 448-6 while Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi were still on the crease.
Saud Shakeel and Rizwan continued their excellent form and made it impossible for the Bangladeshi bowlers to break their defence.
Both Shakeel and Rizwan hit their third century in Test cricket and formed a partnership of 240 for five wickets. Shakeel made 141 (261) which included nine fours. He was dismissed by Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
The wicketkeeper batter remained unbeaten on 171 off 239 balls which included 11 fours and 3 sixes. Meanwhile, Shaheen chipped in with 29 off 24 balls.
The Test matches between Pakistan and Bangladesh are being played as part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 as both teams are eager to perform and strengthen their position on the WTC points table.
Both teams have so far locked horns in 13 matches in six Test series with the Green Shirts emerging winners in 12 of them as one ended in a draw.