On a 35-degree third day broken up into sessions of uneven length – including a three-hour morning session – to accommodate Friday prayers, Bangladesh’s batters weathered a period of early hostility before asserting themselves on Pakistan’s bowlers as the Rawalpindi Test witnessed a riveting fight for first-innings honours.

Shadman Islam laid the foundations for Bangladesh’s resistance with a 93 spanning more than five-and-a-half hours, and Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das built on this with half-centuries of their own. At stumps, Bangladesh were five down and 132 adrift of Pakistan’s first-innings total, with Mushfiqur and Litton at the crease, having added an unbroken 98.

Litton joined Mushfiqur at a pivotal moment in Bangladesh’s innings. Mohammad Ali had nipped out Shadman with the last ball before tea, and Shakib Al Hasan had fallen early, chipping the part-time spin of Saim Ayub to the fielder at cover. The sixth-wicket pair took quick charge of the situation, rattling along at more than five an over and launching a decisive counterattack against Pakistan’s quicks when they took the second new ball late in the day. Bangladesh scored 67 off the last 11 overs of the day, with Litton unfurling some exquisite strokeplay along the way.

The high point of this came in the 89th over of Bangladesh’s innings – the 77th of the day – when Litton tore into Naseem Shah. He stepped out and chipped the first ball of the over straight back over the bowler for a one-bounce four, and followed up with an exhibition of pulling and hooking – two unstoppable fours and a massive six over square leg – to race past the half-century mark.

That over went for 18. Having conceded just 15 runs from his first 12 overs of the innings, and picked up a wicket in that time, Naseem gave away 62 in his last eight. Those numbers reflected Pakistan’s wider fortunes: Bangladesh’s scoring rate went from 2.97 in the first session to 3.33 in the second to 5.08 in the third.

Pakistan, though, still have a 132-run cushion, and will begin day four knowing they are two wickets away from Bangladesh’s lower order.

They had to work extremely hard for the five wickets they did take, though, in conditions that were excellent for batting once the first new ball lost its shine. Pakistan’s discipline and persistence for most of the day, however, ensured that Bangladesh also had to work hard to earn their late scoring spree.

Starting the day on 27 for no loss, Bangladesh scored just 12 runs in 12 overs before the first drinks break, losing Zakir Hasan along the way. Naseem and Shaheen Shah Afridi were relentless with their probing in the channel and found enough movement to imperil on-the-up shots, and Bangladesh’s top three resisted them for most part through a combination of skill, judgment and a bit of luck.

Pakistan made their breakthrough in the fifth over of the day, however, when Naseem’s angle across the left-hander, and a bit of away seam movement and extra bounce, coaxed Zakir into a hard-hands push away from the body. Mohammad Rizwan – back as keeper after going off the field with cramps late on day two – flew to his left to complete the catch off the edge.

Runs flowed slightly quicker when the third and fourth seamers came on, and Najmul Hossain Shanto drove Shahzad crisply for fours through mid-off and extra-cover when he overpitched. But those were marginal errors from Shahzad as he bowled to a plan, bringing Shanto forward with fuller lengths while angling the ball into him from round the wicket. Having habituated Shanto into front-foot drives and blocks into the cover region with a slightly open bat face, he pulled his length back slightly and got one to nip back in off the seam and bowl him comprehensively through the gate.

Bangladesh were 53 for 2, and the seven overs before the next drinks break brought Shadman and Mominul just 12 runs.

Through all this, Shadman batted with poise, except for a couple of ungainly moments against the short ball when he top-edged pulls off Mohammad Ali and Shahzad, the ball falling safely in front of the long leg fielder both times.

As hard as Pakistan were pushing, however, the three-hour first session was always going to be a test for them. Having gone without a boundary through the first two hours of the day, Shadman found his release when Shaheen served up a pair of freebies in the 24th over of the morning, driving a half-volley to the cover boundary and punching a full-toss back past the bowler. Then he stepped out to Salman Ali Agha and drilled him through the covers for another boundary to enter the 40s.

Naseem returned to the attack, and his day, which had begun so brightly, began to unravel with three fours conceded in his last two overs before lunch. Mominul hit two off successive balls – a cheeky uppercut over the slips followed by a premeditated step back and across to flat-bat a marginally short-of-length ball wide of mid-on – before Shadman closed out the session with a pulled four that brought up his fifty.

Shadman and Mominul put on 94 for the third wicket, before Shahzad broke the partnership in the fourth over after lunch. The wicket was near-identical to that of Zakir: a fullish length from round the wicket drew Mominul half-forward to defend, and inward seam movement pierced the bat-pad gap.

Pakistan twice came close to getting an lbw soon after this, with Shahzad reviewing a not-out call off an inducker against Mushfiqur Rahim and Shadman reviewing an out call against a slider from the offspinner Salman Ali Agha. Both reviews went Bangladesh’s way.

As the second session wore on, Shadman began to look dangerous, rushing from 64 to 93 in just 25 balls, hitting six fours in that time. Then Ali took a leaf out of Shahzad’s playbook and bowled him with the last ball before tea: once again, a ball from round the wicket that nipped into the left-hander and bowled him through the gate.

Brief scores: [Stumps day 3]
Bangladesh 316 for 5 in 92 overs  (Shadman Islam 93, Mushfiqur  Rahim 55*, Litton Das 52*, Mominul Haque 50; Khurram  Shahzad 2-47) trail  Pakistan 448 for 6 dec in 113 overs [Saim Ayub 56, Saud Shakeel 141, Mohammad Rizwan 171*, Shaheen Sha Afridi 29*;  Soriful Islam 2-77, Hasan Mahmud 2-70] by 132 runs

[Cricinfo]