Taijul six-fer helps Bangladesh whitewash Pakistan again

Pakistan were whitewashed by Bangladesh for a second consecutive time as the hosts completed a 78-run win in the second Test on the final morning to clinch the series 2-0. Having already whitewashed Pakistan in the away series, Bangladesh completed a historic home win at Sylhet on Wednesday (May 20)

Pakistan were up against it when they resumed the chase on the final day. While they had a well-set Mohammad Rizwan at the crease, the visitors had already lost seven wickets and still needed 121 runs to win the contest and level the series. Rizwan then received an early reprieve at the start of play and then managed to find boundaries off back-to-back deliveries against Nahid Rana to get Pakistan moving.

It was then Sajid Khan's turn to find boundaries off successive balls, this time off Taskin Ahmed. The two batters continued to thwart Bangladesh and started raising Pakistan's hopes with a crucial half-century stand. But with only three wickets needed, Bangladesh knew they would be ahead the moment they broke this partnership. That breakthrough came via Taijul Islam who tossed one up to induce Sajid's outside edge, which was pouched at first slip for his fifth wicket.

The decisive blow came in the very next over when Rizwan edged one to gully to fall six runs short of a century. With the writing on the wall, Bangladesh completed formalities in the next over when Taijul completed a six-fer by getting rid of the final wicket to subject Pakistan to another loss. This was their fourth successive victory against Pakistan in this format. Litton Das was named player of the match for his crucial century in the first innings, which ultimately proved to be the difference-maker, while Mushfiqur Rahim was named player of the series.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 278 (Litton Das 126; Khurram Shahzad 4-81) & 390 (Mushfiqur Rahim 137; Khurram Shahzad 4-86) beat Pakistan 232 (Babar Azam 68; Nahid Rana 3-60) & 358 (Mohammad Rizwan 94; Taijul Islam 6-120) by 78 runs