Pakistan still alive in Sylhet but Bangladesh start day five three wickets from the sweep
Pakistan walk into the last day in Sylhet still alive but only just. Mohammad Rizwan is unbeaten on 75, three wickets stand between Bangladesh and a 2-0 series sweep, and the visitors need 121 more on a worn fourth-innings pitch against the new ball.
Bangladesh set 437, the kind of target nobody in Sylhet was talking about as a real chase. Day four turned it into one anyway, until Taijul Islam pulled the brakes back on in the evening session.
Masood and Babar give the chase a pulse
Shan Masood and Babar Azam were the reason Pakistan got close at all. The captain put together a fluent 71. Babar's 47 off 52 carried the look of an innings he wanted, four boundaries, a six off Taijul, and a partnership that had Pakistan thinking about the next session rather than the next ball.
Then Taijul flipped the switch. He had Masood caught at short leg, Mahmudul Hasan Joy snapping up a low one. Shortly after, he slid one down leg, Babar flicked at it, Litton Das held a sharp catch behind. Pakistan went from a stand of more than 60 to two down quickly, and that was that for the platform.
Agha and Rizwan rebuild, then Agha falls
Salman Agha is the man Pakistan have been leaning on all series and he did it again here. His 71 came in tandem with Rizwan, the two of them adding 134 and dragging the chase back to a number that felt vaguely possible. They left the new ball alone, picked off the part-timers, and made Bangladesh work for the breakthrough.
Taijul got it in the end. He pushed an arm-ball through Agha's defence, the stumps lit up, and Pakistan's middle order ran out of recognised batters. Rizwan kept playing the same patient game from the other end while wickets fell around him, but the maths shifted with every dismissal.
Day five is Taijul versus the tail
Taijul finished day four with 4 for 113 and the new ball waiting for him in the morning. Bangladesh will start day five with three wickets to take and 121 runs to defend.
Rizwan is the obvious obstacle. He has been the calmest batter in this innings and the conditions favour him less than they will favour Taijul on a fifth-day surface. Sajid Khan, his partner overnight on 8, is a frontline spinner asked to bat a session. Pakistan can win this. They probably will not.
Series picture
Bangladesh already lead 1-0 in this two-Test series. A win at Sylhet seals the sweep, and the way they have outplayed Pakistan across both Tests is its own answer to the questions hanging over Shan Masood's tenure as Test captain. For Bangladesh it is a marker against an opponent they have spent a decade chasing.
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