Nahid Rana’s five-wicket haul ripped through Pakistan’s lower order on the fifth day at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, sealing a 104-run victory for Bangladesh and giving them the lead in the series. It was Bangladesh’s third consecutive Test win against Pakistan and their first on home soil, despite winning 2-0 in Pakistan in 2024.
Bangladesh resumed on 152 for 3 and added 88 runs in 20 overs before declaring on 240 for nine, setting Pakistan a target of 268. Najmul Hossain Shanto led the innings with 87 from 150 balls, narrowly missing a second century of the match after scoring a hundred in the first innings. Mushfiqur Rahim fell early adding just 6 to his overnight 16, and Liton Das was caught at the boundary for 11 attempting a six off a Shaheen Shah Afridi short ball. Mehedi Hasan Miraz contributed a brisk 24. Noman Ali took three wickets and reached 101 Test wickets in his career.
With rain having eaten into the first four days, the match still had 76 overs remaining when Bangladesh declared. Low light meant not all overs were guaranteed, making the target effectively steeper than it appeared.
Taskin Ahmed struck in the very first over of the chase, removing Imam-ul-Haq before lunch. Two debutants, Azan Awais and Abdullah Fazal, then rebuilt with a 54-run partnership before Mehedi Hasan Miraz bowled Azan for 15. Fazal, who had scored a fifty in the first innings, was even more fluent second time around, reaching 66 from 113 balls with 11 fours. He and Salman Ali Agha added 51 for the fourth wicket to frustrate Bangladesh deep into the final session.
Pakistan needed 152 from 45 overs with seven wickets in hand at the tea break. Taijul Islam broke the stand immediately after, his sharply turning delivery trapping Fazal lbw after a successful review by Shanto. Ball tracking showed it hitting leg stump, ending a 99-ball partnership. One over later, Taskin removed Salman for 26, with Shadman Islam completing the catch at gully despite hurting his chest in the process.
Then Nahid Rana took over. He dismissed Saud Shakeel for 11 via a thin outside edge behind the stumps collected by Liton Das. He then produced the decisive delivery of the innings, a 147.2 km/h reverse swinger that Rizwan left alone, only to see it jag back and hit middle stump. Taijul removed Hasan Ali lbw, and Nahid then picked up Noman Ali with a successful review to leave Pakistan nine down. He completed his five-wicket haul, the first by a Bangladesh pacer in a fourth innings in their 26-year Test history, by bouncing out Shaheen Shah Afridi. Pakistan’s last five wickets fell for just 11 runs, their innings ending at 163.
Bangladesh finished the match with 23.1 overs to spare.
