Bangladesh beat Pakistan in Test cricket for first time ever© AFP
The Bangladesh cricket team brought much-needed respite back home with a historic result in Test cricket. As the country looks to pull itself out of political chaos, its men's cricket team sent a wave of jubilation back home by securing its first-ever victory against Pakistan in Test cricket. Bangladesh and Pakistan have squared off in a total of 13 matches in the longest format of the game, with 12 of them resulting in a loss for the Bangla Tigers, while one ended in a draw. The opening Test of the 2-match series in Rawalpindi, however, produced a first for Bangladesh, who secured a 10-wicket victory.
The victory for Bangladesh also marked the first time that a visiting team had beaten Pakistan by 10 wickets in their own home, in Test cricket history.
Pakistan and Bangladesh first went head to head in a Test match back in 2001 during the Asian Test Championship which also included Sri Lanka. The Lankans emerged victorious from the tri-series. Pakistan and Bangladesh took on each other in a bilateral series for the first time in 2002, with the former winning 2-0.
On August 25, 2024, Bangladesh finally secured their first-ever triumph against Pakistan in the longest format of the game.
Bangladesh Pakistan | 1st Test | Rawalpindi
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) August 25, 2024
Bangladesh won by 10 wickets
PC: PCB#BCB #Cricket #BDCricket #Bangladesh #PAKvBAN #WTC25 pic.twitter.com/yqNmaQ6rsL
As for the match, Pakistan did well on a batting-friendly wicket after rain led to a delayed start of the match on Day 1. Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan scored centuries to take the team's total to 448 runs before skipper Shan Masood decided to declare the innings. In reply, Bangladesh rode on emphatic batting performances from Mushfiqur Rahim (191) and Shadman Islam (93) to put 565 runs on the board before being bowled out.
The 117-run first innings lead gave Bangladesh hope before going into the second innings. On Day 5, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib al Hasan put Pakistan's batting unit under extreme pressure, picking up 7 wickets between them as the hosts were bowled out for just 146 runs.
Bangladesh wasted little time in scoring the 30 runs they needed to win the match. Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam remained unbeaten to give their team a 10-wicket victory. The rest, is history.