Litton Das rescued Bangladesh from a collapse and carried them to 278 in the first innings of the second and final Test against Pakistan on Saturday in Sylhet. Pakistan reached 21-0 at stumps in reply, with Azan Awais on 13 not out and Abdullah Fazal on 8 not out.
Bangladesh had been reduced to 116-6 after lunch before Litton took control with a fluent 126 off 159 balls, decorated with 16 fours and two sixes. He brought up his fifty off 93 balls, then reached three figures with a cover drive off Khurram Shahzad and followed it with a six off the next ball. It was his sixth Test century, and it came after Bangladesh were rocked early when Mahmudul Hasan Joy fell for a duck off the second ball of the match.
Tanzid Hasan made 26 off 34 balls before Mohammad Abbas removed him, and Mominul Haque was bowled for 22 by Khurram. Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim briefly steadied the innings with a 43-run stand, scoring 29 and 23 respectively, before Mehidy Hasan Miraz was caught at deep fine leg for 4. From there, Bangladesh needed a rescue job, and Litton found it by staying patient while wickets fell around him.
His innings was shaped by lower-order support as much as by strokeplay. Litton added 60 runs with Taijul Islam for the seventh wicket, then 38 with Taskin Ahmed and 64 with Shoriful Islam for the ninth wicket. In the end, the resistance of the tail mattered as much as the elegance at the top, and Litton said afterward that the key was how Taijul, Taskin and Shoriful kept facing balls and extended the innings.
Pakistan had chosen to bowl after winning the toss, a decision that seemed to pay off early when they struck twice at the top and kept pressure on Bangladesh through the middle overs. But they also missed two review opportunities, with faint edges off Mushfiqur and Litton going unchallenged by Shan Masood. Khurram said Pakistan had been getting wickets early and that those missed reviews changed the match picture, adding that if they had gotten the batters out then, the situation would have been completely different.
The fightback mattered because Pakistan entered the match trailing 1-0 after a 104-run defeat in Mirpur, and Bangladesh needed runs to give their bowlers something to defend. They got that, but not enough to fully seize control, leaving Pakistan with a calm start and Bangladesh with the feeling that Litton’s innings had rescued them from something far worse.
