Unbeaten half-centuries by Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique put Pakistan just 93 runs away from registering a victory over Bangladesh in the first Test at Chattogram.

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Pakistan were comfortably placed at 109/0 at stumps on Day 4 on Monday and needed just 93 more runs to win with the final day to go and take a 1-0 lead in the series. Both the openers made half-centuries for the second time in the game as they put Pakistan in firm control in the first Test.

Earlier, despite Liton Das' fighting half-century in the second innings, Bangladesh were all out for just 157 runs in their second innings. Mushfiqur Rahim was trapped in front by Hasan Ali in the first over of the day. But Liton and Yasir Ali did well, scoring regular boundaries. Both tried hard to make runs but the fine bowling from Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali and Sajid Khan restricted Bangladesh batsmen from opening their hands.



Das was lucky when Mohammad Rizwan missed a stumping chance off Nauman Ali's bowling. Their partnership came to an abrupt halt when Yasir walked off the field after the 31st over. Yasir was struck on the side of his helmet in the 30th over when he tried to duck a bouncer from Afridi. However, he appeared fine after an on-field concussion test. After the incident, he batted for an over, before deciding to leave.


Nurul Hasan, who replaced Yasir as a concussion substitute, was involved in a 38-run partnership with Liton as they stretched the lead past 200. But Afridi came back to restrict Bangladesh, getting Das out lbw before bagging his fifth when he got Abu Jayed to glove the ball to the 'keeper. Taijul Islam was the last to depart, stumped off Sajid, who finished with three wickets, as Bangladesh were bowled out for 157, setting a 202-run target for the visitors.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 330 & 157 (Liton Das 59, Yasir Ali 36; Shaheen Afridi 5-32, Sajid Khan 3-33) vs Pakistan 286 & 109/0 (Abid Ali 56, Abdullah Shafique 53*).