Lunch Bangladesh 101 for 2 (Shanto 39*, Mominul 31, Hasan 1-19) vs Pakistan
Mominul Haque and Najmul Hossain Shanto consolidated for Bangladesh after the early loss of their openers in a cagey first morning in Mirpur. After Shan Masood won the toss and opted to put the hosts in on a greentop, it looked to have paid off when Bangladesh stumbled to 31 for 2, but an unbeaten half-century stand between Mominul and Shanto guided their side out of immediate trouble, bringing up the team 100 before lunch.
This was billed as a series that would not rely on spin bowling to the extent it has come to be expected in Bangladesh. A look at the surface convinced both sides, too, with each playing just the one specialist spinner and three seamers. It was evident both captains would rather have bowled first to have a first crack on a pitch that had a generous coating of grass left on it.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Abbas made decent use of those conditions. The first two balls of the Test went for two boundaries, but the visitors pulled things back over the next hour. Off the first ball of his fourth over, Afridi probed the fourth-stump channel to draw a poke from Mahmudul Hasan Joy to draw first blood. Abbas was perhaps a touch unlucky not to find himself among the wickets, but it set the stage for Hasan Ali to find a bit of nip and coax an edge from Shadman Islam that Salman Agha pouched in the slips.
The danger signs were flashing in neon for Bangladesh at that point, but Mominul and Shanto calmed proceedings over the next few overs. While the scoring rate was sluggish, they began to take the sting out of the attack. Pakistan will rue one missed chance in the slips, when a Mominul edge went between Agha and debutant Abdullah Fazal, and went to ground.
In the final 45 minutes before drinks, as conditions eased and the batters settled, the runs began to flow. Afridi, who bowled nine overs in the session, saw his potency fade away towards the backend, with Bangladesh milking nine runs in each of the first two overs of his second spell. Shanto, in particular, became much more expressive with his shot-making, opening up his body and driving expansively through the off side against the pacers.
It eventually drew Masood into turning to the part-time spin of Agha, but when he dropped one short, Shanto deposited him into the midwicket stands for the match's first six. The last ten overs of the session produced 56 runs, and by the time lunch was called, Bangladesh appeared to have found the answers they were struggling with in the first hour.