Sylhet

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Abbas produced an incisive opening spell to leave Bangladesh national cricket team under pressure at 101 for 3 at lunch on the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan national cricket team on Saturday.

Abbas finished the morning session with impressive figures of 2 for 22, giving Pakistan early control after captain won the toss and elected to field first in Sylhet.

Bangladesh, coming into the match with confidence after their 104-run victory in the series opener in Dhaka, suffered an immediate setback when Abbas struck with just the second ball of the innings.

He removed Mahmudul Hasan without scoring, handing Pakistan the perfect start.

Making his Test debut, Tanzid Hasan responded positively, playing with attacking intent to ease the early pressure.

The left-hander played several fluent strokes, including a stylish cover drive off Abbas, before taking on Pakistan’s pace attack with confidence.

Tanzid also targeted Khurram Shahzad, one of the changes made by Pakistan after the first Test.

However, his promising innings came to an end on 26 when he top-edged a short delivery from Abbas, who completed the dismissal with a sharp return catch.

Earlier, Tanzid had stitched together a 44-run partnership that helped Bangladesh recover from the early blow.

Pakistan continued to chip away when Shahzad dismissed Mominul Haque for 22, clean bowling the experienced batter to reduce the hosts to 63 for 3.

From there, skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto once again steadied the innings.

Fresh from scores of 101 and 87 in the opening Test, Shanto showed composure as he rebuilt the innings alongside veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim.

The pair ensured Bangladesh suffered no further damage before lunch, with Shanto unbeaten on 26 and Mushfiqur on 18 at the interval.

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Meanwhile, Pakistan received a boost before the start of play with star batter Babar Azam returning to the playing squad after missing the first Test due to a knee injury.