Litton and Mehidy fifties help Bangladesh recover from 26 for 6

Terrific counterattacking half-centuries from Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz brought Bangladesh back from the absolute brink on the third day of the second Test in Rawalpindi. They do still trail Pakistan by 81 runs with only two wickets in hand but that is a significant improvement on their position earlier in the game.

Having been reduced to 26 for 6 in the first hour on Sunday, courtesy of a searing spell from Khurram Shahzad and Mir Hamza, Litton and Mehidy fought back with a 165-run stand for the seventh wicket, helping Bangladesh avoid the follow-on in the process. Their partnership took the visitors to 193 for 8 at tea.

Mehidy fell a few minutes before the break to Shahzad, who claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket but not before giving Bangladesh something to smile about.

Resuming on 75 for 6, after lunch, still trailing Pakistan by 199 runs, Litton took the attacking route. He came down particularly hard on Shahzad, the first-session wrecker-in-chief. Litton first took him for two fours in three balls in the third over of the session, before smashing him for three fours on the bounce in the next as Bangladesh scored 40 runs in the first six overs after lunch. Litton and Mehidy brought up the 100-run stand for the seventh wicket soon after.

Litton reached his 18th Test fifty with a clip towards deep backward square leg while Mehidy also did not take much time to reach his eighth Test half-century. With the ball now old and not getting much assistance off the pitch, both batters made merry. Pakistan were not helped by the fact that fast bowler Mohammad Ali was forced to go off the field as he wasn't feeling well.

When Shahzad decided to go short, Litton and Mehidy took him on with the pull shot and had decent success with it. Litton clubbed the fast bowler over deep square leg while Mehidy got inside the line and achieved the same result over long leg. Having gone for just 15 off his first seven overs, Shahzad went for 58 from his next six. But he managed to make a comeback.

Just when it seemed Bangladesh would go into tea unscathed, Shahzad foxed Mehidy with a fuller ball which he lobbed back to the bowler. That gave Shahzad his five-wicket haul and he quickly added another one, trapping Taskin Ahmed right in front of the stumps which signalled the tea interval.

Earlier, in what was comfortably Pakistan's best session of the series, Shahzad and Hamza ripped through the Bangladesh top order. The new-ball pair struck six times in 34 balls in the first hour to leave Bangladesh in tatters.

Both bowlers swung the ball through hoops, but more importantly stuck to their lines and always targeted the stumps. Hamza had Zakir Hasan clipping one in the air early but the ball fell just short of the diving Abrar Ahmed at square leg. A few balls later Pakistan failed to review an lbw decision when Zakir missed a flick and was rapped on the thigh pad. Replays suggested the ball would have taken a big chunk of the leg stump.

Shahzad wouldn't be denied for long. With the Bangladesh top order packed with left-handers, he used the around-wicket-angle with precision. His plan was simple: aim for the stumps. It worked magnificently.

He first had Zakir flicking uppishly with Abrar taking a simple catch around the short midwicket area. In his next over, he cleaned up Shadman Islam, the opener walking right across his stumps but failing to account for Shahzad's swing.

Three balls later, it was Najmul Hossain Shanto's turn to walk back, playing all around a full ball to find his middle stump rattled. Hamza then had Mominul Haque caught off the first ball of the ninth over. It was a meek dismissal, with the batter chipping a full-length ball to mid-on with the Bangladesh score reading 20 for 4.

That soon became 26 for 5 when Hamza got a length ball to nibble away ever so late with first-Test hero Mushfiqur Rahim only managing a thin edge through to Mohammad Rizwan. Shahzad then trapped Shakib Al Hasan, who played down the wrong line to be adjudged lbw. Shakib reviewed, but to no avail.

At 26 for 6, Bangladesh's lowest Test total of 43 looked in danger. But Mehidy and Litton shepherded them past that hurdle and many more. With the sheen wiped off the ball, and the Khurram-Hamza pair out of the attack, the duo dug in. Mehidy was the aggressor, as he got going with two fierce square cuts off Hamza before getting a couple of fours off Mohammad Ali.

Litton began with a neat clip off Shahzad and while he was struck on the elbow by the same bowler, he made sure to stick around.