DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) 鈥� Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque hit resolute half-centuries as Bangladesh reached 152-3 on rain-hit Day 4 of the first test against Pakistan on Monday.
Bangladesh鈥檚 lead grew to 179 runs, keeping it on course to push for a result on the final day after bad light forced an early end to play with Shanto unbeaten on 58 and Mushfiqur Rahim on 16.
Shanto, , put on a 105-run partnership with Mominul for the third wicket to keep Bangladesh on the front foot after the host slumped to 23-2 in the morning session.
Mominul followed his 91 with 56 in the second innings, extending his rich form with five half-centuries in a row and became the Bangladesh batter to reach 5,000 runs.
鈥淢ominul knows how to handle these situations,鈥� batting coach Mohammad Ashraful said. 鈥淭he partnership of Mominul and Shanto put us ahead today and hopefully we鈥檒l set a strong target to push for a victory tomorrow.鈥�
Play was stopped for more than three hours because of rain. After resuming at seven for no loss, Bangladesh received an early blow when Mahmudul Hasan was trapped leg-before-wicket by pacer Mohammad Abbas for five.
Pacer Hasan Ali dismissed Shadman Islam for 10, with Saud Shakeel taking a catch at gully after the batter was surprised by the extra bounce.
In a repeat of their first innings rearguard, Mominul and Shanto showed resolve to frustrate Pakistan鈥檚 attack, keeping Bangladesh on course to set a challenging final innings target for the visitors.
They also came together in the first innings to share 170 runs when Bangladesh was struggling at 31-2.
Mominul survived two chances before edging a delivery from pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi behind the wicket.
Shanto played an almost flawless innings and raised his sixth test half-century off 90 balls with a single to mid-off off Afridi.
He and Mushfiqur Rahim then safely dealt with remaining overs to deny Pakistan any further breakthroughs.
鈥淲e will definitely go for the win,鈥� Pakistan all-rounder Salman Agha said. 鈥淚f they give us around 70 overs and a target near 260, we will absolutely chase it. But I don鈥檛 think they will take that risk.鈥�
Bangladesh earlier was bowled out for 413 in its first innings, before taking a 27-run lead, dismissing Pakistan for 386 with offspinner Mehidy Hasan taking five wickets.
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