Bangladesh v Pakistan, 2014-15

	Tamim Iqbal 206 helped Bangladesh draw the first Test © AFP Enlarge
Related Links Tour and tournament reports : Bangladesh v Pakistan, 2014-15 Matches: Bangladesh v Pakistan at Khulna Series/Tournaments: Pakistan tour of Bangladesh Teams: Bangladesh | Pakistan

At Khulna, April 28-May 2, 2015. Drawn. Toss: Bangladesh. Test debuts: Mohammad Shahid, Soumya Sarkar; Sami Aslam.
This Test was played in the shadow of a devastating earthquake that badly affected Nepal. It struck three days before the game and killed over 9,000, including four in Bangladesh. While at practice the following day, the teams felt an aftershock, despite being more than 400 miles from the epicentre. It was a sobering reminder of cricket's place in the grand scheme.

At first it was business as usual: Pakistan restricted the home batsmen on a docile pitch and then ran up a big lead. Bangladesh appeared to be having trouble readjusting to five- day cricket after the limited-overs series: the top eight all got into double figures, but no one made a century. Mominul Haque, who had missed the shorter games, top-scored with 80, though he fell to the last ball of the first day, and next morning the innings crumbled from a promising position; in all, the last seven fell for 96. Wahab Riaz and leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who took three wickets apiece, were a constant threat.

Mohammad Hafeez, who had looked out of sorts in the one-day matches, returned to form with a bang, converting his eighth Test century into his first double, five months after 197 against New Zealand. Strong off the back foot, he put on 227 with Azhar Ali, who made 83, and there were also eighties for Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed, who put on 126 for the sixth wicket.

The loss of the last five for 34 on the fourth morning kept the lead under 300 - just. Slow left-armer Taijul Islam finished with an expensive six-for, his last wicket a stumping by Mahmudullah, who was keeping wicket as Mushfiqur Rahim had injured his right ring finger, and Imrul Kayes, the original stand-in, needed a rest after 120 overs behind the stumps. Mahmudullah was only the second man to collect a stumping and a five-for in Tests (he took five for 51 with his off-breaks against West Indies in St Vincent in 2009), after New Zealand's John Reid.

Seasoned Bangladesh-watchers feared a collapse in the face of a deficit of 296 with five sessions to survive, but they could hardly have been more wrong. Tamim Iqbal and Imrul batted through the rest of the fourth day, scorching past their own national first- wicket record (224 against Zimbabwe at Chittagong in November 2014). Tamim purred to his half-century by reverse-sweeping Zulfiqar Babar for four, and celebrated by smashing the next ball over long-on for six; later he struck Yasir for successive sixes to the same area.

Imrul, meanwhile, zipped past 1,000 runs, in his 20th Test, with a six of his own off Yasir. The spinners extracted some turn, but the openers countered it well, and continued next morning to 312, a Bangladesh record for any wicket, beating 267 for the fifth by Mohammad Ashraful and Mushfiqur against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2012-13. It was the highest opening partnership in any Test team's second innings, surpassing 290 by Colin Cowdrey and Geoff Pullar against South Africa at The Oval in 1960. And it was the second-highest stand in Tests between two left-handers, after the 322 by Brian Lara and Jimmy Adams for West Indies' fifth wicket against Australia at Kingston in 1998-99.

Crucially, there was no major wobble after Zulfiqar removed Imrul for a career-best 150. Tamim sailed on to 206, batting nearly seven and a half hours in all. He struck seven sixes, as well as 17 fours, and eclipsed Mushfiqur's 200 in that Galle match as the highest Test score for Bangladesh; their eventual 555 for six was comfortably their best second- innings total, and they finished with more runs - 887 - than they had previously managed in a Test. Shakib Al Hasan ensured the draw with a patient unbeaten 76, finding time for a slanging match with Wahab for which both were fined. A delighted Mushfiqur hailed the result as "a very big turning point in Bangladesh cricket ... the last two days have proved that we are a very competitive side".
Man of the Match: Tamim Iqbal.