Debutant Azan Awais‘ century was the centrepiece of Pakistan‘s spirited reply on the third day, before bad light forced early stumps. The umpires called off play at 5.30pm, although it was initially announced that play could go up to 6.15pm after a lengthy rain delay in the afternoon. Mehidy Hasan Miraz‘s five-for had handed Bangladesh a 27-run first-innings lead, before they batted for 1.5 overs in the second innings, with openers Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Shadman Islam adding seven.

It was Mehidy’s 14th five-for, and he finished with 5 for 102. Taskin Ahmed and Taijul Islam took two wickets each, while Nahid Rana picked up one, as Pakistan were bowled out for 386 in reply to Bangladesh’s 413.

The day, however, belonged to Pakistan’s batters – especially Awais, who scored 103. The 21-year-old made a telling contribution with his bat that consisted of some excellent shots through the off side. But he was equally fluent on the on side. The left-hand opener had two big partnerships: 106 with Imam-ul-Haq, and another 104 with fellow debutant Abdullah Fazal. They became only the third debutant pair from Pakistan to put together a century stand.

Awais’ dismissal also sparked Pakistan’s batting collapse on the third morning. Taskin had him caught at first slip, making him his 50th Test wicket. He also got Pakistan captain Shan Masood caught at point for 9, before Mehidy got into the act. He had Saud Shakeel lbw for a duck, before sucking Fazal into an uppish shot, which Taijul took gleefully at mid-on.

Fazal played second fiddle to Awais, striking seven fours and a six in his 120-ball stay. But when he fell, Pakistan went from 210 for 1 to 230 for 5 just before lunch.

Salman Agha and Mohammad Rizwan then went into recovery mode, and ensured Pakistan chipped away at Bangladesh’s first-innings total. They struck 15 boundaries between them, but Rizwan fell soon after reaching his half-century. He couldn’t clear Mahmudul at mid-off when he tried to charge at Taijul just before tea.

Rizwan must have rued his shot further when he saw covers coming on seconds after he was dismissed. There was heavy rain for nearly an hour, after which play began at 4.15pm, about half an hour after the rain had fully stopped.

Agha fell shortly after play restarted, as he was caught at first slip, before Mehidy removed both Noman Ali and Shaheen Afridi in quick succession. The innings ended when Taijul bowled Hasan, roughly an hour before the scheduled end of play.