Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan has said on Saturday that if they can get early wickets on the fifth morning, they have a chance to register their maiden Test win against Pakistan. On the fourth day, Mushfiqur Rahim also registered the highest individual score by a Bangladesh batter in Pakistan, helping his side to take the lead in the first innings in Rawalpindi.

The visitors were in control with a 117-run first-innings lead, thanks to Mushfiqur’s 191 which helped them post 565 runs as well. At stumps on the fourth day, Pakistan were trailing by 94 runs, having scored 23/1 after 10 overs, with opener Saim Ayub dismissed for just 1 as well.

“If our bowlers perform well in the first hour tomorrow, we’ll be in a good position. We’re not thinking too far ahead,” Mehidy told reporters. “We’ll have a great chance if we can take early wickets tomorrow. If we get a few wickets in the first session, we have a shot at winning. “We got a good lead, and now we need to bowl in the right areas and pick up early wickets. The bowlers did well in the last hour,” he said.

However, Mehidy Hasan expressed his satisfaction with Bangladesh’s batting unit in the opening Test and he also credited Mushfiqur for his stunning innings.

“Mushfiq bhai and I had a good partnership. Credit goes to him for batting brilliantly and supporting me throughout. He kept telling me it was an excellent wicket and to keep playing well. We’re really happy because it’s been a long time since we scored over 500 runs. The boys played really well. Shadman scored 93, and Litton Kumar Das also batted well. Not everyone will score, but some need to take responsibility like Mushfiq bhai did. We’re in a good position and very happy,” he further added.