Spin bowlers help Bangladesh secure first Test win over Pakistan

New Delhi — Bangladesh registered their first Test win over Pakistan after spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan bowled them to a memorable 10-wicket victory in the series opener in Rawalpindi on Sunday.

Pakistan, who declared their first innings on 448/6, were bowled out for 146 in their second, which left Bangladesh needing 30 runs to go 1-0 up in the two-Test series.

Miraz (4/21) and Shakib (3/44) wreaked havoc with the ball, exposing Pakistan’s blunder of not picking a single specialist spinner in their attack.

Bangladesh openers Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam chased down the target in seven overs to seal victory with more than one session to spare.

“It’s massive,” Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said after a perfect 26th birthday gift.

“We had never won here, but we had the belief before the start of the series that we can win this time.”

Mushfiqur Rahim, whose stellar 191 powered Bangladesh to 565 all out in the first innings, was adjudged player of the match.

The veteran batter donated the prize money to the flood-affected peoples of his country.

Pakistan opted for a pace-heavy attack but the slow nature of the track neutralised their formidable new-ball attack of Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.

Resuming the final day on 23/1, Pakistan lost skipper Shan Masood early to Hasan Mahmud for 14.

Babar Azam was dropped early but could not make the most of the reprieve and dragged a ball from Nahid Rana onto his stumps to depart for 22.

Shakib dismissed Saud Shakeel and Abdullah Shafique to put Bangladesh in charge before Miraz joined the party.

Mohammad Rizwan followed his 171 in the first innings with a fighting 51 but it was not enough.

“Never to make an excuse, but it didn’t play the way we thought it would,” Masood said.

“There have been mistakes and we have to do better when we play next. There’s always room for a spinner,” he said.

The second Test, also in Rawalpindi, begins on Friday.

Reuters