BAN vs PAK: Babar Azam dismisses Mehidy Hasan Miraz to pick maiden international wicket

A day after he bowled for the first time in international cricket, Babar Azam scalped his maiden wicket as he dismissed Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz on the fifth and final day of the second Test in Dhaka.

Babar, who has 21 wickets in his professional career, came into bowl in the 76th over and struck on the second ball, trapping Miraz on the front as he failed to connect a sweep. While the on-field umpire was not convinced, Pakistan successfully reviewed the call with the ball-tracker showing it would have crashed into middle and leg stump.

At the time, Miraz was in an attempt to evade a defeat that was looming large on his team, despite a considerable part of the game washed out due to rain. In a rather abject display of batting, the hosts were tumbled out for a paltry 87 in the first innings thanks to Sajid Khan’s record produce of 8/42 after Pakistan declared 300/4, with all four in Azhar Ali, Babar, Fawad Alam and Mohammad Rizwan scoring half-centuries.

A following-on Bangladesh improved their performance in the second innings, but that was not enough to avoid an innings defeat, as they were dismissed for 205. Sajid added four more to his first-innings tally to clinch a 12-for, while Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali picked two apiece in the second innings as Pakistan clean-swept their rivals 2-0 and added another 12 crucial points in their World Test Championship tally.

Firsts are always special! ❤️@babarazam258 bags his 1️⃣st international wicket in the 2️⃣nd over he has ever bowled! 😱

View #BANvPAK 2nd Test scorecard on #FanCode 👉 https://t.co/TKyDm6yy8R pic.twitter.com/eK4SgKhEwv

— FanCode (@FanCode) December 8, 2021

“I felt that I needed to bowl at that stage and really happy I got that wicket (Mehidy),” winning skipper Babar said after the match. “Our batsmen and especially openers gave us good start and our mindset was just to dominate despite the bad weather and Sajid’s spell gave us momentum and confidence to win this game. Credit to groundstaff, they have done a really great job with all the rain around in the last few days. This series win gives us a lot of confidence and some crucial WTC points.”

“Captain and vice captain had trust on me and glad to perform well for my team. The talk was always to go for the win and to attack. It’s a complete team effort and everyone deserves the credit for this win,” Sajid, who was adjudged the Player of the Match, said.