Bangladesh Vs Pakistan Test series

                                                  Sakib-Al-Hassan

Pakistan capped off a fruitful year in cricket by completing a clean sweep against Bangladesh in Mirpur on a drama-filled day that showcased the unpredictability of Test cricket.

In the first session, Nasir Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim batted sensibly, not especially worried about the runs which they were collecting, making the draw seem the likeliest result. In the second, a combination of kamikaze batting and smart spin bowling resulted in Bangladesh losing their final five wickets for 22 runs, leaving Pakistan the seemingly straightforward target of 103. It wasn't though, as Pakistan faced a race against the fading light in the final session, and needed some intrepid batting to secure the victory in the gloom.

There was a helping hand from the weather for Bangladesh early on, as the usual morning fog delayed the start by an hour and a half. Bangladesh's batting has posted 250 in both innings of a Test only four times in the past seven years, and as play began the worry was the home side would fold on a fifth-day track, particularly against Pakistan's versatile spin attack.

Those fears were quelled in the morning as Nasir went on to his maiden half-century while Mushfiqur made his second important contribution with the bat as the pair put on a century stand. After lunch, though, Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal bamboozled the lower order to revive fading Pakistan hopes of a victory.

It was Rehman who did the major damage after the interval. Nasir was hoodwinked by a straighter delivery that beat the bat and crashed into the stumps to end the partnership at 117. Bangladesh still had plenty of reasons to hope: the lead was already 80, Mushfiqur was set and nearing his half-century, the new batsman Elias Sunny had a first-class high score of 176, and the light usually fades well before the scheduled close of play.

Those hopes pretty much evaporated after a wild stroke from Mushfiqur, who charged out and looked to send a Rehman delivery out of the ground, only managing to top edge it towards mid-off. How Mushfiqur can lecture his team-mates about batting responsibly after this shot remains to be seen.

Bangladesh's slide continued thanks to a moment of magic from Younis Khan at slip, which seemed even more spectacular given the number of simple chances that have been put down in the match. It extended Shahadat Hossain's forgettable Test as he attempted a reckless swipe across the line, getting a thick edge which was seemingly flying well wide of first slip. Younis, though, threw himself to his right goalkeeper-style to snaffle it one-handed. Saeed Ajmal then captured the final two victims to take his tally for the year to 50.

In contrast to the helter-skelter batting after lunch, Nasir and Mushfiqur had been level-headed in seeing off the bowling in the morning. Chances fell short, flew wide and soared over slip but Pakistan were unable to make the breakthrough, as both batsmen also played some powerful shots behind point. In the fourth over of the day, Nasir edged an attempted drive just past second slip, but that didn't stop him from a vigorous upper cut over gully for four off the next delivery.

Once the fast bowlers were seen off, Ajmal and Rehman dried up the runs with an accurate spell of bowling. A five-over stretch that yielded only one run was finally snapped by the inevitable big stroke, but Nasir managed to swat it wide of the diving midwicket fielder to pick up a boundary.

Both Nasir and Mushfiqur showed a defensive technique that was mostly watertight, and Pakistan had to turn to their secondary spinners, Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali. A whip to midwicket for four off Ali brought up the hundred stand five minutes before lunch, and Bangladesh were looking forward to escaping with a draw before a depressingly familiar collapse followed.

In this Test, Shakib Al Hasan already had the highest score and the best bowling figures by a Bangladeshi against Pakistan, but he could still have made his most important contribution during the chase. It was getting murky early in the afternoon, and the floodlights were on as early as 3pm - a series of tight overs could have been enough to conjure a face-saving draw. He bowled through the innings but it was a task too tough even for him.

Pakistan had a stretch of 24 dot balls early on, and Taufeeq Umar was dismissed cheaply, but Mohammad Hafeez then took over, expertly pulling the barrage of short balls from the medium-pacers. With Azhar Ali working the singles, Pakistan galloped towards victory even as the light faded. Both Hafeez and Azhar were dismissed with the win in sight, but that only brought in the senior batsmen, Man-of-the-Series Younis Khan and captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who stylishly completed the victory with a six over long-off.

Although Pakistan are playing very good cricket, there's nothing in their bowling attack we should not want to face. They have always had class seamers who can swing the new ball and get the old ball reversing. Saeed Ajmal is one of the best to watch, has lots of tricks up his sleeve. He puts batsmen under pressure. He's more like (Muttiah) Muralitharan in the sense that he's more of a wrist spinner than an offspinner." 

Misbah ul Haq  It's a team effort. Everyone contributed and it was a good all round performance and a well deserved victory. Victory is always important as it unites the team. We are still learning how to improve in Test cricket and the players are learning their roles in the team. The victories are helping their confidence. Players are responding well to me. The coaching staff, management and everybody are responding well to me. Bangladesh played well in this game. The partnership between Shakib and Nafees in the first game and today the partnership between Nasir and Mushfiqur was a really difficult period for us. The England series is going to be a big one. They are the top side in the world right now. Thanks to all the people who turned out and supported us. The groundsman did very well to produce a very good wicket.

Mushfiqur Rahim We feel good but it could have been better. Shakib had a great match. Nafees did a good job in the first innings and Nasir played well in the second. We are working on our fielding and hopefully we will do much better in the future. After the thrashing in the first Test, I think we showed some real character in this game.

Younis Full credit to all the boys. It is hard to play back-to-back series but full credit to the team. We tried to stick to our plans and it worked well. If Bangladesh stick to their players, they have a good bunch, they will improve in the future. Whenever you are playing against England it is a big series. I'm in good nick and hopefully it works for me.

Shakib This was a special game for me but unfortunately we lost this one. We will have to improve and we have some domestic games coming up. Hopefully the boys go out and improve themselves. We have four months before the Asia cup to do it

.Nasir Hossain made a career-best 79, but his dismissal set off a collapse that resulted in a Bangladesh loss.

Score:

Bangladesh Firest innings338/10 (Sakib-144)Nafess-97

Pakistan Firest innings 470 /10(Umar-130) Misbha-70-Sakib83/6

Bangladesh 2nd innings 234/10 (Nasir Hossain 79)

Pakistan 2nd innings 107/3  (Hafess 47) (Sunny 7/1)

Pak Won by 7 Wicked by the second test match.

Pak won by 2-0 series. 

Man of the Match Sakib-al-Hassan.
Man of the Series Younus Khan.