On the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh, Pakistani wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan produced a cricketing moment to remember with a spectacular catch to see off Zakir Hasan. Resuming from an overnight score of 27/0, the Bangladeshi openers were well poised. On the third morning, however, Pakistani bowlers, led by a disciplined approach that gave very little in the form of loose deliveries to the batsmen to work with, soon tightened things up.
The catch came off the penultimate ball of the 17th over. Naseem Shah came round the wicket and bowled a back-of-a-length delivery, which took the outside edge of Zakir Hasan’s bat and flew to the first slip. Though Babar Azam at first slip did move to his right to claim the catch, this was Rizwan at his best.
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Mohammad Rizwan dived full stretch to his left, pulling off the stunning one-handed grab – securing the ball with a fantastic demonstration of reflexes and skill. Interestingly, Rizwan had to be temporarily replaced by Sarfaraz Khan from overs 7.4 to 12 due to overnight cramps, but despite his absence, he played a vital role for Pakistan throughout the game.
Absolute ripper of a catch! 😲
The @iMRizwanPak 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 gives @iNaseemShah his first wicket of the day 👏#PAKvBAN | #TestOnHai pic.twitter.com/gqwVCrz6xl
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 23, 2024
Rizwan’s contribution was much more than his impressive keeping. With the bat, he played a monumental innings, scoring 171* off 239 balls—his highest in Test cricket. He did manage a third Test century, and what an achievement it was, considering his last hundred had come in 2022 against Australia in Karachi.
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Finally, Pakistan declared at 448/6, eyeing to test the Bangladeshi openers with some fresh new-ball bowling. Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam, however, saw off the 12 overs bowled on Day 2 with solid batting techniques to see off any further threat of damage.
