Pakistan on the Prowl

Taufeeq Umar celebrates his century. Courtesy AFP

Only in Bangladesh could the morning session be delayed because of fog, and only in Bangladesh could for 3 days straight, players having to come off early because of bad light in the middle of the summer! Pakistan are still 46 behind Bangladesh’s total of 338, but certainly hold the upper hand going into day 4 with seven wickets in the shed, with middle order maestros Misbah-ul-Haq (26*) and Younis Khan (48*) still at the crease.

Pakistan’s total was largely built on the partnership between opener Taufeeq Umar and young stroke maker Azhar Ali of 127. Taufeeq brought up his 3^rd hundred of 2011, and Ali made his 12^th score of 50+ and still only has 1 century. He’s Pakistan’s Watto for sure. Bangladeshi bowlers weren’t that threatening, although their knight in shining armour Shakib Al Hassan got large amounts of turn, dismissing Pakistani Watto with a ball that spat from a good length. Bangladesh bowled some good spells with the 2^nd new ball, like when Nazmul Hassan got the edge of Taufeeq’s centurion bat, and 1^st slip gobbled it up. But yet again good work was undone with a mixture of lacklustre bowling and too many loose balls, which Taufeeq especially lashed into, slashing a third of his boundaries through the point area.

Pakistan never looked to be aggressive (not one six has been hit over the 3 days), although the reason their batting has become a lot more assured in this calendar year is because of that solidarity, Umar the perfect foil for young stroke makers Ali and Shafiq, while the ageless Younis Khan and the obdurate Misbah-Ul-Haq pick up the slack, and more often than not make runs. The batsman did get some lives though- Shakib got a ball to spin sharply back into the left handed Taufeeq when he came down the track, keep Mushfiqur Rahim was so confident that he hit it, he didn’t bother taking off the bails. There was no edge. Taufeeq survived. The centurion also had a life first over after lunch, gully dropping an absolute soda. Then Younis Khan was dropped first over after tea this time, at deep midwicket- fielding again the thing holding the lowly ranked teams back from the big boys. Pakistan batted the safety-first approach on a gloomy Mirpur day, but will look to build a good lead and back their bowlers, most notably mainstays Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal, to do the job when they get ball in hand.

The Globe Trotter,