Pakistan Clawing Back

For a second day at Mirpur, Dhaka, play was restricted to below 70 overs by fog in the morning and bad light in the afternoon as the 2nd Test between Pakistan and the home side, Bangladesh, ground its way forward. Pakistan, having been thwarted on the opening day by a long partnership, were again frustrated when play did eventually get underway. Century maker Shakib Al Hasan formed a second good partnership, this time with captain Mushfiqur Rahim, adding 82 for the sixth wicket. Mushfiqur was the more adventurous of the two, taking to the spinners with lofted shots to the outfield. The new ball came and went before lunch to nil effect - Cheema and Gul unable to gain any advantage from the pitch or through the air. The spinners were able to extract more turn with the harder ball but but only Saeed Ajmal looked threatening.

A half hour after lunch, Mushfiqur called Shakib for a quick single, changed his mind and Shakib was unable to beat Taufeeq Umar's throw back. Shakib was an unhappy camper as he left but it got worse. Mishfiqur was out next ball, gloving a ball from Umar Gul down the leg side to keeper Adnan Akmal. Wickets lost in clusters are hard on a side, particularly weaker teams. Bangladesh collapsed, losing 5-33 and were out well short of the 400 hundred total their hard work had deserved.

Nazmul Hossain removes Hafeez

Despite losing Mohammad Hafeez in the fifth over, Pakistan made sound progress until light intervened. Hafeez was out to a regulation ball just outside off stump which he nicked behind. For bowler Nazmul Hossain, bowling his first delivery in Test cricket for seven years, it was nothing but pure joy.Taufeeq used up some luck early, slicing over slips but proceeded to smash anything short and wide of off stump, peppering the boundary either side of point. His better shots came when the ball was fuller and he was driving down the ground. Azi Ali appeared to be prepared to take his time and build. He played one delightful drive through extra cover which had little to do with power and everything to do with timing but survived a raucous appeal for lbw on 10, when he unwisely shouldered arms at a ball which came back at him from Robial Islam. Late in the day, spin was closing the batsmen down but perhaps the impending early close of play had more to do with their batting demeanour than the bowling.

With the conditions likely to remain unchanged, there may be less than 200 overs left to find a result.