At lunch on the second day of the first Test here on Thursday, Pakistan reached 256-4 thanks to the efforts of Mohammed Rizwan and Saud Shakeel, who frustrated Bangladeshi spinners.

As play continued on the second day, Shakeel and Rizwan were undefeated at 57 and 24, respectively, with 158/4 on the scoreboard.

As Rizwan challenged Bangladeshi bowlers with his fast-paced blow, the left-hander took center stage.

With two boundaries in the next ball, Rizwan finished his half-century in 63 balls with a boundary off Nahid Rana.

As he approached his 80s after hitting more than 150 balls, Shakeel remained unaffected on the opposite end.

When the first session came to a conclusion, Shakeel was at 86 and Rizwan was still undefeated at 89.

Previous to this, the pair did a great job of keeping Pakistan on course with an undefeated 44-run partnership after Bangladesh responded with the highly sought-after scalp of Saim Ayub, who amassed 56 off 98 deliveries with the aid of four fours and a six.

Together with Saim, Shakeel scored 98 runs for the fourth wicket, forming another significant partnership for Pakistan.

Prior to this, Pakistan lost three wickets in nine overs after being placed to bat first, which was a catastrophic beginning.

Due to the soggy outfield caused by overnight rain in the city, the first Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh was delayed in its start.

With Hasan Mahmud out for a superb flying catch by Zakir Hasan, Pakistan lost their opening batsman Abdullah Shafique (2) in the fourth over.

Leading batsman Shan Masood (6) and superstar Babar Azam (0) were taken out by Shoriful Islam, leaving Pakistan trailing 16-3.

Right up until Saud joined him, Saim Ayub clutched onto one end of the stick, and the two of them worked together to help Pakistan recover.

with halftime, Pakistan’s score was 81-3, with Saim and Saud still unbeaten with 42 and 28, respectively.

In case you missed it, the day was intended to last 30 minutes, but only 48 overs were bowled today due to the delayed start of the game. Still, only 41 years could be bowled because to the poor light, significantly curtailing the activity.

August 21 to September 4, when the two matches in the series will take place at the same location, is when the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) will culminate.

In the 2023–25 ICC World Test Championship, Pakistan is presently ranked sixth. In the competition, they have participated in two away series; they have defeated Australia 3-0 and defeated Sri Lanka 2-0.

Engaging in XIs

Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Ali are the Pakistani teammates.

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumer Das, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, Mominul Haque, Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, and Shakib Al Shanto (c).