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Taskin, Miraz lead dominant morning surge as Pak slump to 96-4
Bangladesh's bowling unit carried the momentum from Litton Das’s opening-day heroics into Sunday morning, executing a clinical collapse of the Pakistani top-order to leave the visitors reeling at 96-4 at a drinks-extended opening session on Day 2 in Sylhet.
Resuming from their overnight score of 21-0, Pakistan's unblemished start disintegrated within the first hour of play against a hostile new-ball spell from Taskin Ahmed.
Taskin struck first by removing Abdullah Fazal (9), luring the opener with a beautifully pitched away-slanter that coaxed a thick edge straight into the gloves of a diving Litton.
In his very next over, Taskin struck again to send first-innings centurion Azan Awais back to the pavilion for 13.
Coming from around the wicket, Taskin landed a fierce back-of-a-length delivery perfectly on the seam. The ball nipped back sharply, catching a thin inside-edge onto the pad before looping gently to Mominul Haque at short leg, leaving Pakistan stuttering at 23-2.
With the pacers having set a ferocious tone, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto introduced off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz to exploit the building pressure. The tactical switch paid immediate dividends.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood (21) looked to break the shackles by bludgeoning a shortish, wide delivery into the covers, only to hit it straight to substitute fielder Nayeem Hasan at short cover.
Miraz struck a massive psychological blow just before the session progressed further, accounting for Saud Shakeel (8). Attempting to counter the turn with a sweep, Shakeel only managed a top-edge off the toe-end of his bat, allowing Litton to comfortably claim his third dismissal of the match.
While the visitors crumbled around him, Babar Azam offered the solitary resistance for Pakistan. Batting with trademark composure, Babar hit five boundaries to reach an unbeaten 37 off 58 balls, pairing with Salman Agha (6*) to guide Pakistan to 96-4 at the end of 30 overs.
Bangladesh—who posted a competitive 278 on the opening day courtesy of Litton’s 126—currently, at the lunch of day 2, hold a massive 182-run cushion.
With Taskin (2-30) and Miraz (2-14) firing in tandem, the hosts will look to break the Babar-Salman partnership early in the afternoon session to force a definitive first-innings lead, reports UNB.