Azam and Masood ton put Pakistan in driver’s seat
Rawalpindi, Pakistan - Tests turn in one ball. For Bangladesh, that came in the third over after lunch. Just prior to the interval, they had dismissed Azhar Ali. Now, there was a gift for the taking from Babar Azam after he'd played the most un-Azam like shot.
A miscue after being lulled by Taijul Islam's loop and flight. Ebadat Hossain wasn't alert enough at mid-off; a clumsy run backwards to try and catch magnified his error in judgment even more. The catch went down with Azam on three. Pakistan would've been 104 for three. It wasn't to be.
Azam went on to make 140 more and carried with him the promise of much more on Sunday, maybe even a maiden Test double. Pakistan ended the day 109 ahead; Asad Shafiq serenely batting on 60. His stand with Azam was worth 137, and with three full days still to go, you could sense where this was headed.
It wasn't just Azam and Shafiq who had fun. Shan Masood continued his Test match rejuvenation by bringing up his third Test century (100), his second on the trot, to further deflate the visitors.
Having seen Abid Ali fall early, slashing to the slips, Masood sussed up the conditions and then made merry once the bowlers lost their sting in the first half hour. Masood half-century came off 54 balls, courtesy nine boundaries.
For Bangladesh, Islam kept toiling, looking to bowl into the rough created at the other end. But the surface was simply too good: little dust, no cracks, true bounce and little movement. Everything batsmen dream of while looking to set up Tests. Masood was perhaps caught in one such dream soon after getting to his century.
Having concentrated long and hard, shelving the free-flowing drives that he superbly played early for the hard grind after passing fifty, he was out driving to a harmless delivery that ought to have been put away. He played down the wrong line, nearly yorked himself by getting into a tangle as the ball snuck through the inside edge to hit the stumps. At that stage, Pakistan were 205 for three, behind by 28 runs.
The wicket came literally out of nowhere, because until a few moments prior to his century, Bangladesh were so switched off that they didn't even appeal for a ball that Masood nicked to Liton Das, the wicketkeeper, on 86 off Rubel Hossain.
So the wicket was another opportunity for Bangladesh to try and crack open the middle order. Azam was a batsman every inch confident of what he was upto, far from the unusually ultra-aggressive self who threatened to hit out and get into trouble early in his innings. It took Azam a while to calm himself down after the reprieve, and for the Rawalpindi faithful who turned up on Saturday, it was worth the wait.
In the morning session, Bangladesh struck twice, both gifts to loose shots. Fresh off back-to-back tons in his first two Tests, Abid slashed at one early on, while Azhar fell in similar fashion shortly before lunch. But the 91-run partnership established Pakistan's early advantage where they proved the biggest threat they faced was their own complacency against a toothless attack.