After GT’s whirlwind start, 220 was a base expectation from their innings. By the end of the 19th over, they were on track to finish under it, stuck on 208 for 4. Brijesh Sharma had plucked out Jason Holder’s wicket and given away just four runs in the 19th, varying his pace and bowling into the blockhole. However, his gold-dust over was reduced to a footnote when Tushar Deshpande missed his lines in the last over. Rahul Tewatia maneuvered around the crease to leather back-to-back sixes, before Washington Sundar hit one of his own to drag GT to 229 for 4.

It is the stuff of routine now. The bowler chugs in, bowls a perfectly okay delivery, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi sends him into the stands first-ball. Saturday night was no different, as Sooryavanshi clobbered Mohammed Siraj across the line over the long-on boundary. Next ball, a Siraj yorker rifled towards the stumps, and Sooryavanshi inside-edged onto his foot and fell to the ground.

Sooryavanshi looked set for another big start, despite limping between wickets, blasting Siraj for three fours in four deliveries. On the fifth delivery, he was rushed into a hook off a fiery bouncer that carried to square leg. In the blink of an eye, Sooryavanshi went from zero to 16-ball 36, then from the middle to the dugout.

Siraj (1 for 55) and Kagiso Rabada (2 for 33) became the first pair of IPL bowlers to bowl through the powerplay four matches in a row. Jurel ventured down the track to plunder a 22-run over against Siraj before the powerplay ended. Rashid would pluck him out soon anyway.

With Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal gone, the onus was on Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja – who clobbered six and four off his first two deliveries – to play against type and shift into fifth gear. But Rashid got the ball to jag and turn off a pitch like no other spinner on the night. He also bowled more legbreaks than googlies – a rarity for him – to keep the batters guessing.

Once Jurel perished, Donovan Ferreira saw the ball turn the other way, past an innocuous front-foot defence. Harsh Dubey soon went for another missed slog, Rashid’s third consecutive dismissal to rattle the stumps. Rashid wore a wry smile when Jadeja swiped him over backward square leg for six in the 14th over. Next ball, Jadeja was trapped lbw in front of the stumps as the ball spun into his pads.

Holder soon mopped up the tail, taking the final three wickets in five deliveries and RR had lost their third game in four matches.

Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 229 for 4 in 20 overs  (Sai Sudharsan 55, Shubman Gill 84, Joss Buttler 13, Washington Sundar 37*, Rahul Tewatia 14*; Brijesh Sharma 2-47, Yash Raj Punja 1-37, Ravindra Jadeja 1-34) beat Rajasthan Royals 152/10 in 16.3 overs  (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 36, Dhruv Jurel 24, Ravindra Jadeja, 38, Shubham Dubey 15, Dasun Shanaka 16; Mohammed Siraj 1-15, KagisoRabada 2-33, Rashid Khan 4-33, Jason Holder 3-12)  by 77 runs

[Cricinfo]

Imam’s dismissal, an arm ball from Mehidy Hasan Miraz, appeared to have little impact on Awais’ own confidence. In the final hour during Nitish’s last burst, he pitched the first two balls short, with Awais dispatching them for boundaries either side. When Nahid went full at 147.1kph off the following delivery, Awais merely flicked him to fine leg to make it three in a row. It was the last time Nahid would bowl on the day.

It helped, perhaps, that Fazal showed he was comfortable at the crease during a crucial phase in the game. It was an attritional innings, but crucially, one that has not come to an end. It may easily have ended in the final ten minutes, though, when Bangladesh put down a chance off Taskin at third slip – the second such reprieve for a Pakistan batter after a nick from Imam was grassed earlier.

But the position these young batters found themselves in would not have been possible without an old hand. Mohammad Abbas had said Pakistan had been slightly unlucky on the first day, and then played an instrumental part turning that luck around on the second morning. Four wickets to add to Friday’s one gave the fast bowler a five-wicket haul that undid some of the damage Bangladesh inflicted on Pakistan on day one, thus bowling them out for 413.

It was still the highest first-innings score Bangladesh have ever managed against Pakistan, though it fell short of what they may have hoped when they looked solid at 338 for 4, before losing 5 for 46.

Earlier, Bangladesh had threatened to run away after Litton Das struck three boundaries off Shaheen Shah Afridi’s first three balls. But Pakistan managed to rein the scoring rate back in. It set the stage for Abbas to try and get something out of a pitch his compatriots appeared to have written off for dead.

Always searching for unconventional ways to gain an edge, he surprised Litton Das with a bouncer that, despite his modest pace, grew big on the batter as he tried to mow it over mid-on. Litton found Amad Butt, the substitute fielder, stationed there, and he took a splendid catch for Pakistan’s first success in the morning.

Shortly after, Abbas added a second wicket in the morning as Mehidy Hasan Miraz tried to transfer pressure back onto him. A six off the previous delivery emboldened the batter to scythe him through point, but Mehidy only found Imam’s safe hands.

It appeared Bangladesh had decided to take Pakistan on from one end while Mushfiqur Rahim shepherded them from the other. Taijul Islam went after Hasan Ali in a little cameo that sped up the scoring rate, but, again, found himself succumbing to the unlikely Abbas bumper that he failed to get on top of.

The other quicks finally jumped in to help. Shaheen Shah Afridi broke the innings open by ending Mushfiqur’s stubborn resistance on 71 with a lovely nipping ball post-lunch. But Abbas was not denied his fifth – it was yet another bouncer that Ebadot Hossain could not handle and nicked off to. Bangladesh found a way to get over the 400 mark with a breezy cameo from Taskin Ahmed, who scored 28 off 19 balls, and added 29 with last batter Nahid.

Awais, along with Imam, then came out to bat an hour before tea. He then led the way in ensuring Pakistan’s goals in this Test are far loftier than mere survival.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 179 for 1 in 46 overs  (Azan Awais 85*, Imam-ul-Haq  45, Abdullah Fazal 37*;  Mehidy Hasan Miraz  1-37) trail Bangladesh 413 in 117.1 overs (Najmul Hosein Shanto 101, Mominul Haq 91, Mushfiqur Rahim 71; Mohammed  Abbas 5-92, Shaheen ShahnAfridi 3-113)  by 234 runs