Abbas, however, praised the surface in Mirpur as a “good cricketing wicket”. “I’m not saying it’s a very good batting track, it is a very good cricketing pitch,” Abbas said. “I don’t think it was a frustrating day. At some points we didn’t bowl well, but at other points we really bowled well, and we were a bit unlucky as well that there were plays and misses going on all day.”
Superficially, the decision to bowl first appeared a no-brainer. There was plenty of grass left on the surface, with both sides lining up with three fast-bowling options. Eager to exploit the early dangers such a pitch ostensibly posed for batters, Pakistan captain Shan Masood put the hosts in. It paid early dividends, with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali accounting for Bangldesh openers Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Shadman Islam in the first hour.
However, the pitch settled down, and crucially, so did Bangladesh’s batters. “There is grass but underneath is very dry,” Abbas explained. “We’ve played enough cricket to know we need to work hard. The weather is very hot, too. [We’ve got] a new ball … in our hands. We’ll come tomorrow and try to take early wickets and finish [their innings] as soon as possible.”
Abbas was the most economical bowler early on, conceding just 13 in his first eight, even as Bangladesh began to pick off his teammates, in particular Shaheen Afridi and left arm spinner Noman Ali. However, he was the only quick not to take a wicket in that first session. His assiduousness would be rewarded on the stroke of tea, though, just after Najmul Hossain Shanto drove him through the covers to bring up his hundred.
“I went for the inswinger on that ball,” Abbas said of the delivery which trapped the Bangladesh captain in front. “Sometimes the ball was swinging, and other times it wasn’t. That’s why I’m saying it was a very good track. The umpire thought there was an inside edge, so he didn’t give it out. But from my angle I knew it hadn’t hit bat.”
At times, Pakistan did not help themselves with their indiscipline. All told, there were 32 extras conceded on the day, including eight no-balls. Most of them came from spinner Noman, including one on a close lbw shout Pakistan wanted to review before the TV umpire adjudged Noman had overstepped. However, the normally neat and tidy Abbas also found himself erring on occasion.
“I bowled two no-balls. Sometimes when you put in a bit of extra effort it can happen. They must have been close, but they shouldn’t have happened. But it’s a hard day, and I bowled for a long time; until tea I’d bowled 16 overs. It was what the team needed.
“They’re four down, and we have a new ball. We’ll try and get rid of them as soon as we can.”
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
