Test | Pakistan

Spinner Taijul Islam took six wickets to lead Bangladesh to a 78-run win over Pakistan in the second Test and clinch a famous 2-0 series win on Wednesday. Pakistan, who started the fifth day on 316-7 while chasing a record 437, were bowled out for 328 in the first session in Sylhet after Mohammad Rizwan hit a valiant 94. It was Bangladesh’s first Test series win at home against Pakistan and a second successive sweep after their 2-0 triumph on Pakistani soil in 2024. Wicketkeeper Rizwan kept Pakistan in the hunt for an unlikely win with a 166-ball stay after the visitors had slumped to 162-5 on day four. Rizwan put on an eighth-wicket partnership of 54 with overnight partner Sajid Khan, who made 28. Taijul broke through to dismiss Sajid for his 18th Test five-wicket haul and Shoriful Islam had Rizwan caught in the next over to end Pakistan’s resistance. Taijul took the final wicket of Khurram Shahzad to return figures of 6-120 and trigger Bangladesh celebrations. The left-arm spinner also took 3-67 during Paki...

Bangladesh are three wickets away from a famous Test series win at home after spinner Taijul Islam took 4-113 to rattle Pakistan despite a rearguard by the opposition batters on Tuesday. Pakistan ended day four on 316-7, needing another 121 runs for victory in what would be a record chase of 437 on the fifth and final day in Sylhet. Mohammad Rizwan, on 75, and Sajid Khan, on eight, were unbeaten at the close of play. Left-arm spinner Taijul struck key blows, including Babar Azam for 47 and Salman Agha on 71, to keep Bangladesh in the hunt for their first-ever Test series win over Pakistan at home. Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan plays a shot during the fourth day of the second Test cricket match between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet on May 19, 2026. — AFP Bangladesh, who won the opener of the two-match series, also closed in on back-to-back Test series victories over Pakistan —having whitewashed them 2-0 on Pakistani soil in 2024. Pakistan slumped to 162-5 and were h...

Opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy struck a fluent half-century after the bowlers dominated to put Bangladesh firmly in command of the second Test against Pakistan on Sunday. Bangladesh, who lead the two-match series 1-0, closed day two on 110-3 in their second innings, leading by 156 runs in Sylhet. Joy, who fell for a duck in the first innings, responded with 52 off 64 balls before falling to pace bowler Mohammad Abbas. Tanzid Hasan fell cheaply for four off quick bowler Khurram Shahzad, who later took down Mominul Haque for 30 in the final over of the day, while captain Najmul Hossain Shanto remained unbeaten on 13. Earlier, left-arm spinner Taijul Islam and speedster Nahid Rana took three wickets each to bowl Pakistan out for 232, giving Bangladesh a 46-run first innings lead. Babar Azam’s 68, which included 10 fours, was the only significant resistance from the visitors. Pace spearhead Taskin Ahmed removed overnight openers Abdullah Fazal and Azan Awais early and spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz dismissed skipper Shan ...

Pace bowler Nahid Rana claimed five wickets as Bangladesh trumped Pakistan by 104 runs in a rain-hit first Test on Tuesday after a thrilling fifth day of batting collapses. Chasing 268 for victory in Dhaka, Pakistan were 119-3 before they fell to 163 all out in the final session with debutant Abdullah Fazal scoring a valiant 66. Bangladesh now hold a 1-0 lead in the two-match home series. The Test win was Bangladesh’s first against Pakistan on home soil and their third overall. The 23-year-old Fazal put on 51 runs with Salman Agha, who made 26, to raise Pakistan’s hopes of victory before Rana rattled the opposition with career-best figures of 5-40. Rana, 23, made an impact with his pace and reverse swing and his final spell of 4.5 overs got him four wickets for just 10 runs to turn the match on its head. “Very happy — proud of all the guys, the way we played,” Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said. “We have been working hard the last few months and slowly we are getting better at Test cricket — that’s...

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto hit an unbeaten half-century as Bangladesh extended their lead by 179 runs on the rainy fourth day of the first Test against Pakistan on Monday. The hosts were 152-3 in their second innings, with Shanto on 58 not out alongside Mushfiqur Rahim on 16, when stumps were drawn for the day at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. Bangladesh lost their openers early after resuming on their overnight score of 7-0, with Mahmudul Hasan Joy trapped leg before off Mohammad Abbas for five. Shadman Islam was then caught at gully by Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel off Hasan Ali for 10, leaving the hosts reeling at 23-2. Shanto came to the rescue, joining hands with Mominul Haque (56) to steady the innings. The left-handed pair, who had tormented Pakistan with a record 170-run third wicket stand in the first innings, added 70 runs off 122 balls to take Bangladesh to lunch at 92-2. Pakistan had chances to make further inroads but Mohammad Rizwan failed to hold on to Mominul’s catch. The af...

Mehidy Hasan Miraz claimed five wickets to give Bangladesh a slender lead after Pakistan debutant Azan Awais hit 103 on a rain-hit third day of the first Test on Sunday. Pakistan made 386 all out in response to Bangladesh’s first innings total of 413 in Dhaka. Bangladesh closed the day on 7-0 in their second innings to increase their lead to 34 runs, after bad light ended play with Mahmudul Hasan Joy unbeaten on two and Shadman Islam yet to score. left-handed Azan, who resumed on 85, completed his hundred off 153 balls to become the 14th Pakistani and sixth player overall to score a century on debut against Bangladesh. He became pace bowler Taskin Ahmed’s 50th Test wicket after captain Najmul Hossain Shanto caught the opener at slip. “It’s a very blessed feeling for me because I know it’s my debut match and I performed really well for my country,” a visibly moved Azan said. “When I was going in to bat, I was a little nervous, but I performed very well for my team.” Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals b...

Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood has expressed confidence in the bowling attack as the national side prepares to face Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series in Mirpur on Friday. The Green Shirts are visiting Bangladesh for a Test series after being whitewashed on home soil by the Bengal Tigers in August 2024. The visitors had won the two-match series by 10 wickets and six wickets respectively in Rawalpindi. Addressing the pre-series press conference on Thursday, Masood said, “We are fully focused on this series and the challenge of playing Bangladesh in their own conditions.” He also put the weight on the home side’s “quality in all departments”. Masood said that the team is looking forward to “testing” itself against its hosts. “We have selected a well-balanced squad that can perform in different conditions. The players have experience of playing in seam-friendly as well as spin-friendly environments, so we are confident about the options available to us,” he said. “In Test cricket, taking 20 ...

Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has been appointed as head coach for the two-match Test series in Bangladesh next month, the Pakistan Sports Board (PCB) said on Saturday. The first of the two matches – part of the ICC World Test Championship — will be played at Sher-i-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka from May 8 to 12, while Sylhet International Cricket Stadium will host the second Test, which will be played from May 16 to 20. Sarfaraz, who led Pakistan to the Champions Trophy title in 2017, has worked with the under-19 team as well as Pakistan Shaheens after his retirement. Since Australian Jason Gillespie quit as Pakistan’s red-ball coach in December 2024, Aaqib Javed and Azhar Mahmood temporarily guided the team led by Shan Masood, who will continue as captain in Bangladesh. Pakistan have named four uncapped players — Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais and Muhammad Ghazi Ghori — to their 16-member squad for the Bangladesh series starting in Dhaka on May 8. Sarfaraz’s former teammate Umar Gul will j...

Spinner Simon Harmer took six wickets as South Africa thrashed India by 408 runs in the second Test on Wednesday to sweep the series and condemn the hosts to a record loss. It was South Africa’s first series win in India in 25 years, after bowling the home team out for a dismal 140 in a mammoth chase of 549 on day five in Guwahati. India suffered their biggest Test defeat by runs and a fifth loss in seven home Tests, having been whitewashed 3-0 by New Zealand last year. Off-spinner Harmer, 36, returned figures of 6-37 as South Africa clinched a Test series in India for only the second time, the first in 2000 under Hansie Cronje. “Winning a Test match and series in India is very special,” said left-arm quick Marco Jansen, who returned figures of 6-48 in India’s first innings after smashing a quickfire 93 with the bat. Jansen, named player of the match, added: “Very well done to everyone for putting their hand up and making this happen.” India lost the opening Test in Kolkata inside three days on a pitch with u...

South Africa beat Pakistan by eight wickets in the second Test in Rawalpindi on Thursday to draw the series 1-1 with Simon Harmer taking a maiden five-wicket haul. The 36-year-old off-spinner finished with 6-50, taking his 1,000th first-class wicket in the process, on a deteriorating Rawalpindi stadium pitch. South Africa reached the 68-run target for the loss of captain Aiden Markram (42) and Tristan Stubbs (nought), both to spinner Noman Ali, who finished with 2-40. Ryan Rickelton, who scored 25 not out, hit Sajid Khan for a six to seal an emphatic win minutes before the lunch break for the World Test Championship holders. In another battle of spinners, Pakistan managed 333 in their first innings before the South African tail wagged to help them pile up 404 for a crucial 71-run lead. Spinners took 34 of the 40 wickets to fall in the first Test in Lahore, which Pakistan won by 93 runs. Thursday’s morning session saw Pakistan’s batters fold, adding just 44 runs after resuming the fourth day on 94-4. Harmer to...

A maiden career century at Melbourne in 1972-73 got Sadiq Mohammad, Pakistan’s dashing left-handed opening batsman, noticed in Tasmania, where Latrobe Cricket Club brought him over to both coach and play for them. He was the youngest of five brothers — Wazir, Raees, Hanif, Mushtaq and Sadiq — four of whom played Test cricket for Pakistan. Playing cricket in Tasmania offered Sadiq a fat pay-check, and while the standard of cricket was still wanting (they were not yet part of the Sheffield Shield, Australia’s first-class circuit), this was a real chance for him to cement his status as a professional cricketer, at a time when playing for Pakistan still meant poor pay. In 1974-75, the West Indies were coming to tour Pakistan, in one of Clive Lloyd’s first captaincy assignments, and recent debuts for two West Indies cricketers — Andy Roberts and Viv Richards. They were also on the back of a competitive 5-match series in India, which they had won 3-2. A bureaucratic struggle Sadiq and Majid Khan had already establi...

Simon Harmer grabbed three early wickets to push South Africa closer to a series-levelling victory over a faltering Pakistan in the second Test in Rawalpindi on Wednesday. Harmer took 3-26 as Pakistan ended the third day on a precarious 94-4 — just 23 runs ahead with six wickets and two days remaining on a spin-spiced Rawalpindi stadium pitch. Pakistan’s last hopes rest on Babar Azam, unbeaten on 49, and Mohammad Rizwan, 16 not out, as they strive to win the two-match series, having won the first Test by 93 runs in Lahore. South Africa piled up 404 runs after Senuran Muthusamy scored a career-best 89 not out and Kagiso Rabada posted his highest Test score of 71, giving the visitors a crucial 71-run lead. The home team scored 333 in their first innings. With their backs to the wall, Pakistan’s second innings started disastrously as opener Imam-ul-Haq (nine) and skipper Shan Masood (nought) fell to Harmer with the score at 16. It became 16-3 when Rabada had Abdullah Shafique caught in the slips for six. Harmer ...

Pakistan punished poor catching from South Africa to accumulate 259-5 on the opening day of the second and final Test in Rawalpindi on Monday. Had the tourists not dropped five catches on a turning pitch they would have been in a better position after Pakistan won the toss and batted. Skipper Shan Masood, dropped on 71 off a luckless Keshav Maharaj, top-scored with 87 while Abdullah Shafique — dropped four times — made 57. Saud Shakeel and Salman Agha will resume on Tuesday unbeaten on 42 and 10 respectively, with the home team seeking a 2-0 series win against the world Test champions. South African pacer Kagiso Rabada trapped Mohammad Rizwan with the fifth delivery with the second new ball for 19 to give some respite to his team. Maharaj, who missed the first Test in Lahore through injury, took 2-63 and fellow spinner Simon Harmer 2-75. With the bulk of the bowling done by Maharaj and Harmer, spinner Senuran Muthusamy — who took 11 wickets in the first Test — was surprisingly used for just four overs. The fi...

Amid fears over the future of Test cricket, a vision for a new format — carrying elements of both the traditional red-ball version and the modern Twenty20 game — has emerged by the name of “Test Twenty”. The idea was unveiled on Thursday by Indian sports entrepreneur Gaurav Bahirvani, the executive chairman of the One One Six Network, and boasts the patronage of the likes of former stalwarts AB de Villiers, Clive Lloyd, Matthew Hayden and Harbhajhan Singh. According to a press release, “Test Twenty fuses the strategic depth of Test cricket with the speed and spectacle of T20”. The format will be played over 80 overs, featuring two innings of 20 overs per side, with scores carried forward across innings. Each team bats twice, just like in a Test match, while the rules of both Test and T20 cricket will apply, with a few refined adjustments to suit the new format. “Matches can conclude in a win, loss, tie, or draw, ensuring that every contest retains the full spectrum of cricket’s drama and unpredictability,” th...

Left-arm spinner Noman Ali was South Africa’s chief tormentor as Pakistan won a gripping first Test by 93 runs in Lahore on Wednesday. Set a daunting 277-run target for victory, the visitors and World Test champions were bowled out for 183 on day four. Man of the match Noman finished with 4-79 and 10-191 in the match for his third haul of ten wickets or more in Tests. With the weary Gaddafi Stadium pitch taking sharp turn and low bounce, the 39-year-old Noman exploited the conditions well despite a stubborn 73-run stand between Dewald Brevis and Ryan Rickelton in the morning. In all, spinners from both sides took 34 wickets, with just six going to fast bowlers. South African left-armer Senuran Muthusamy took 11-174 in the match. Pakistan made 378 in their first innings, with South Africa scoring 269 in reply. On a deteriorating surface, the hosts collapsed in their second-innings 167 but it proved enough. On Wednesday, with the tourists 137-6 at lunch the writing was very much on the wall, then Sajid Khan dis...

Pakistan rode on a brilliant 93 from Imam-ul-Haq to reach 313-5 after a brief fightback from South Africa on the opening day of the first Test in Lahore on Sunday. Shan Masood hit 76, but Haq missed out on his hundred as Pakistan slumped to 199-5 as four wickets fell quickly. Mohammad Rizwan, 62 not out, and Salman Agha, unbeaten 52 at the close, rebuilt the innings during an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 114 in the final session on a spin-friendly Gaddafi Stadium pitch. Rizwan hit two fours and two sixes in his 12th Test half-century while Agha had two fours and a six in reaching his 10th fifty. Pakistan dominated most of the first two sessions, but then had a mini- collapse from 163-1 to 199-5 as they lost four wickets for 36 runs, the last three without adding a run either side of the tea interval. Spinner Prenelan Subrayen trapped Masood lbw for 76, including nine fours and a six, to end a 161-run stand with Haq. Left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy then had Haq caught at short-leg by Tony de Zorzi, after ...

Test skipper Shubman Gill has replaced Rohit Sharma as India’s ODI captain, the country’s cricket board said on Saturday, starting with the series in Australia. The 38-year-old batsman Rohit and fellow stalwart Virat Kohli, 36, were both however named in the squad for the three-match series beginning on October 19. Top-order batsman Gill, 26, is now Test and one-day skipper, and vice captain of India’s T20 side. He took over the Test captaincy from Rohit starting with the series in England in the summer, earning praise for both his leadership and batting. He led from the front, scoring 754 runs in five Tests to help India draw the keenly contested series 2-2. Gill also leads Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League. Rohit, one of India’s most successful limited-overs captains, led the side to a record third Champions Trophy title in Dubai earlier this year. He and Kohli have both retired from T20Is and Tests. Gill’s vice-captain for the Australia series will be Shreyas Iyer. India currently top both the OD...

Mohammed Siraj was the hero as India beat England by just six runs in a thrilling fifth Test at the Oval on Monday to end the series level at 2-2. England, set 374 to win, were bowled out for 367, with fast bowler Siraj taking 5-104, including a sensational burst of 3-9 on Monday’s final morning. It is India’s narrowest winning margin in a Test match. “To be honest, it is so amazing,” Siraj told Sky Sports. “From day one to here, everyone fought so hard, so we are very happy. “I just wanted to make sure I hit the right areas, the wickets would fall, and anything else would be a bonus. “When I woke up, I believed I could do it.” After resuming on 339-6, England lost four wickets for 28 runs on the final morning of a dramatic series. The home side were soon 354-8 after Siraj, the leading bowler on either side this series, struck twice to remove Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton. When injured England last man Chris Woakes came in to bat with his left arm strapped up owing to an injured shoulder, England still needed...

India’s enthralling series in England is going all the way to the finish after the resilient tourists drew the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Sunday. Record-breaking skipper Shubman Gill scored his fourth century of the campaign before Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar also made hundreds. England remain 2-1 up in this five-match contest ahead of a quick turnaround to Thursday’s start of an Oval finale, where an India victory in south London would ensure a share of the spoils for Gill’s men. A draw looked anything but likely when India collapsed to 0-2 in the opening over of their second innings on Saturday as Chris Woakes struck with successive deliveries after England had piled up a mammoth 669 in their first innings. But Gill, in on a hat-trick, went on to score 103 in a marathon innings of some seven hours as he turned the tide during a stand of 188 with KL Rahul that ended before lunch on Sunday’s last day. Jadeja, reprieved first ball when Joe Root dropped a tough slip chance, went on to make 107 not...

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett got England off to a flying start in their first innings of the fourth Test before India ensured both openers fell agonisingly short of centuries. England were 225-2 at stumps on the second day at Old Trafford, a deficit of 133 runs, after they dismissed India for 358, with captain […]