Hafeez and Younis shine, Pakistan in control

An unbeaten century partnership between Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq, and Mohammad Hafeez’s classy century lead Pakistan to 415 for four at stumps on the second day of the first test as Pakistan continued to dominate against Bangladesh in Chittagong.

Younis was on 96, four runs short of his 19th test century, and Asad had 40, as Pakistan extended their lead to 280 runs.

The pitch today looked perfect for batting, as there was no moisture in it. There is also not mush assistance for the spinners at the moment, but that might change with the passage of time.

Pakistan ended day one of the match with 132 runs on the board with both openers Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar unbeaten on 74 and 53 respectively.

The pair started off steadily today morning, but Umar was unable to carry onto make a big one. He scored 61 runs off 164 balls with the help of eight boundaries before being trapped leg-before-wicket off the bowling of spinner Mahmudullah.

The ball did not do much to deceive the batsman, who was probably expecting an off-spinner from Mahmudullah.

However, the ball went straight with the line and struck Umar on the pad in front of the stumps. It had pitched within line as well and was not a difficult decision to make by umpire Billy Doctrove from West Indies.

This was the only wicket Bangladesh managed to pick up in the Pakistani innings, as Hafeez and Azhar Ali were rock solid until the lunch break.

The former played exceptionally well, scoring his fourth century in Test cricket. He has been doing a great job for the Green Shirts in recent times, collecting runs in all three formats of the game.

The stylish right-handed batsman played aggressively yesterday, but became a little cautious today morning, as he was nearing a ton. The session was all about Hafeez, as he pushed Mahmudullah into the covers to bring up a well-deserved century.

Azhar Ali provided adequate support to Hafeez and the pair saw Pakistan through to lunch on 212 for one with Ali unbeaten on 24 and Hafeez 113 not out.

When the afternoon session resumed it proved slightly more fruitful for Bangladesh as they managed two wickets and finally ended Hafeez’s marathon stand on 143. The right-hander appeared to get a think inside edge onto his pad to an Elias Sunny delivery, but the umpire failed to see the bat’s involvement and gave Hafeez out.

Hossain also got some reward as he found some seam movement outside off stump and drove Ali into a shot (26). The batsman got the edge and Mushfiqur Rahim completed an easy catch.

Younis Khan and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq then showed their years of experience by seeing out the session to the tea break and taking Pakistan to 295 for three.

The final session saw the hosts claiming the wicket of their opponent’s skipper, who was caught lbw. In trying to attempt a comical paddle sweep, Misbah (20) failed to connect to a full toss and was struck plumb in front.

Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan then got into the act with a commanding display of batting and take their side to 415 for four at stumps of day 2 with Shafiq batting on 40 while his veteran partner, cruising on 96.

With three full days still to be played, the task looks pretty daunting for the hosts.

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