Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Mushfiqur ton, Litton and Joy fifties set Pakistan 437

Mushfiqur Rahim brought up his century with a passionate celebration AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan 232 and 0 for 0 (Fazal 0, Awais 0) need 437 runs to win vs Bangladesh 278 and 390 (Mushfiqur 137, Litton 69, Shahzad 4-86, Sajid 3-126)

Mushfiqur Rahim's 14th Test century headlined Bangladesh's dominance on the third day of the Sylhet Test. His knock and fifties from Litton Das and Mahmudul Hasan Joy helped Bangladesh set a target of 437.

Pakistan batted two overs before the umpires called off play due to bad light. The openers Abdullah Fazal and Azan Awais didn't open their accounts as both Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam tested them in their respective overs.

The story of the day, however, was Mushfiqur's 233-ball stay, adding 123 with Litton for the fifth wicket, and 77 runs for the seventh wicket with Taijul Islam. Mushfiqur struck twelve fours and one six during his knock, which was his third century in the second innings of a Test match, coming at a tricky period for Bangladesh when they had to bat well to keep themselves ahead of the game.

He followed his usual formula of getting set by playing the ball close to his body, before finding boundaries around the wicket. Cover drives, square-cuts and slog-sweeps were accompanied by hard hits down the ground and the pulls through midwicket.

Mushfiqur's innings finally ended with roughly 35 minutes left on the third day; he was the last Bangladesh wicket to fall, in the 103rd over.

Pakistan's best period on the third day was the first 45 minutes. Shahzad troubled captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, before trapping him lbw for 15. Litton, fresh off his first-innings century, was free-flowing even in seaming conditions. He gave Bangladesh a bit of breathing room with a few boundaries in the first session.

Litton was lucky too, surviving an easy run out when Babar Azam couldn't hit the stumps from short midwicket. On 38 at the time, he was stranded halfway down the crease after a mix-up with Mushfiqur. Offspinner Sajid Khan also dropped Litton when he was on 56, off his own bowling. Litton continued to time the ball quite easily, until his upper-cut reached Saud Shakeel at fly-slip off Hasan Ali. He made 69 with five fours, off 92 balls.

Litton now has three occasions of a hundred and fifty in a Test, the most by a Bangladeshi wicketkeeper-batter. Later, Taijul contributed with 22 off 51 balls, with two fours, both stylishly struck, as he supported Mushfiqur during their seventh-wicket partnership. Mehidy Hasan Miraz fell to a beauty from Shahzad, but otherwise, Bangladesh kept things in their control on the third day.

Pakistan 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st27Azan AwaisAbdullah Fazal
2nd14Shan MasoodAzan Awais
3rd92Shan MasoodBabar Azam
4th21Shan MasoodSaud Shakeel
5th8Shan MasoodSalman Agha
6th134Mohammad RizwanSalman Agha
7th8Mohammad RizwanHasan Ali
8th54Mohammad RizwanSajid Khan
9th0Mohammad RizwanKhurram Shahzad
10th0Mohammad AbbasKhurram Shahzad