Shanto's ninth Test ton and a 170-run stand drag Bangladesh to 301 for 4 against Pakistan in Mirpur
Najmul Hossain Shanto's ninth Test hundred and a 170-run partnership with Mominul Haque dragged Bangladesh from a wobbly start to 301 for 4 at stumps on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan in Mirpur. The captain's 101 was the centrepiece of a Bangladesh recovery that felt unlikely an hour into the morning session.
A wobble, then a stand
Pakistan captain Shan Masood won the toss, looked at the surface at Shere Bangla National Stadium and put Bangladesh in. The early pace movement justified the call. Mahmudul Hasan Joy edged behind off Shaheen Shah Afridi for 8, and inside the next half hour Hasan Ali pulled Shadman Islam across his stumps with one that held its line, the edge taken at second slip by Salman Agha for 13. Bangladesh were 31 for 2 inside 11 overs, the new ball doing exactly what the visitors wanted it to do.
Shanto and Mominul changed the day. They added 170 for the third wicket, refusing to let Pakistan extend the dominance the new ball had given them. Mominul's footwork against the spinners and Shanto's willingness to step out and disrupt rhythm were the two patterns that ran through the partnership. Shaheen kept coming back, Noman Ali found turn, Hasan Ali probed his lengths. Nothing came.
Shanto's record afternoon
Shanto reached his hundred off 130 balls with 12 fours and two sixes. It was his ninth Test century and his fifth as Bangladesh captain, a tally that lifts him past Mushfiqur Rahim's four and gives him the record for most Test hundreds by a Bangladesh skipper. The other line in the record book mattered too: Shanto became the first Bangladesh captain to make a Test hundred against Pakistan.
Mohammad Abbas finally ended the partnership by trapping Shanto lbw. Mominul fell to Noman Ali for 91, also lbw, agonisingly close to a fourteenth Test hundred but with the bigger job already done.
Mushfiqur and Litton hold on
The veteran pair walked out with the partnership-breaking momentum on Pakistan's side. They saw out the rest of the day. Mushfiqur Rahim was 48 not out at stumps, Litton Das alongside him, and the score read 301 for 4. Pakistan, who handed Test debuts to openers Azan Awais and Abdullah Fazal in a side without Babar Azam, had given themselves a foothold with the early wickets and then watched it slip away through the middle session.
Day 2 picks up with Bangladesh chasing a total north of 400 and Mushfiqur looking to build on a base he has built before. Pakistan have wickets shared across Afridi, Hasan, Abbas and Noman, but they will be hoping the second new ball arrives before the next 170-run stand does.
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