2nd Test: Bangladesh Beat Pakistan by 78 Runs to Complete 2-0 Series Sweep as Rizwan Heroics Fall Short
By Sayed Abdullah | May 20, 2026
There are innings that win matches, and then there are innings that stay with you long after the match is lost. Mohammad Rizwan's 94 in Sylhet was the latter. For most of the final day of the second Test, he carried Pakistan's hopes on his shoulders — patient, immovable, almost serene amid the chaos around him. And then, with 79 runs still needed and three wickets in hand, he fell. Eight runs short of what would have been one of the most celebrated centuries of his career. Pakistan lost by 78 runs. Bangladesh completed a 2-0 series sweep — their third consecutive Test victory over Pakistan. Rizwan walked off with an innings that will be remembered not for its result but for its sheer, stubborn refusal to surrender. Sometimes cricket is just profoundly cruel.
I've watched a lot of Pakistan Test cricket over the years — the collapses, the near-misses, the occasional glory. But this series feels different. It's not just that Pakistan lost twice. It's that Bangladesh outplayed them in almost every department across both matches, and by the end, the result didn't even feel surprising. That should worry anyone who cares about the state of Pakistan's Test team.
How the Final Day Unravelled
Pakistan started day five needing 121 runs to win, with Rizwan unbeaten on 75 overnight and Sajid Khan on 8. The equation was steep but not impossible — Rizwan would need to farm the strike, Sajid would need to survive, and a bit of luck would need to go their way. For a while, that's exactly what happened. Sajid came out and played his shots — five boundaries in a brisk 28 off 36 balls — and the target came down to 79. The crowd, what was left of it, started to believe. I started to believe.
Then Taijul Islam happened. Sajid mistimed one and was caught by Najmul Hossain Shanto. Still manageable — two wickets left, Rizwan at the crease, still looking immovable. But then Shoriful Islam produced the ball of the day, and Rizwan, on 94, edged to Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Just like that, the resistance ended. The last three wickets — Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, and Naseem Shah — added precisely zero runs between them. All three fell for ducks. Pakistan all out for 358. Bangladesh winners by 78 runs.
Three wickets for no runs. That's not a collapse in the traditional sense — collapses usually involve some resistance from someone. This was a complete absence of a lower order. Once Rizwan was gone, Pakistan folded as if the remaining batsmen had already accepted the result. That's not a technical failure. That's a psychological one.
Rizwan's Magnificent 94
Rizwan's innings deserves to be separated from the result and appreciated on its own terms. His 94 came off 166 balls — not a flashy, aggressive knock, but a masterclass in Test match batting under pressure. He left deliveries he didn't need to play. He punished the ones that deserved punishment. He rotated the strike intelligently. And he did all of this while wickets tumbled around him at the other end.
When Salman Ali Agha fell for 71 after a 134-run partnership, Rizwan didn't panic. When Hasan Ali edged to slip for a duck, Rizwan didn't waver. He just batted on, hour after hour, as if he had made a private pact with himself that he would not be the one to let this slip away. The kind of innings that defines careers — even when it doesn't win the match. He was eight runs short of a century, but the century would have been the number. The innings itself was the achievement.
The Series That Raises Uncomfortable Questions
This is Bangladesh's third consecutive Test win against Pakistan, following their 2-0 sweep in Pakistan in 2024. Five wins in a row. You cannot call that a fluke anymore, no matter how much you might want to. Bangladesh batted with discipline throughout the series, bowled with patience and variation, and fielded with a sharpness that Pakistan could only envy from across the pitch. Taijul Islam was the standout performer — six wickets in the second innings alone, the destroyer of Pakistan's middle order in both matches. But the truth is that Bangladesh's entire attack outbowled Pakistan's throughout the series, not just Taijul.
For Pakistan, the questions are now unavoidable. The batting lineup, Babar Azam aside, looks fragile against quality spin bowling. The lower order is practically ornamental — zero runs from the last three wickets in a run chase is unacceptable at any level of professional cricket. The bowling attack, despite moments of genuine threat, could not sustain pressure for long enough periods to force results. The over-rate problems that cost Pakistan WTC points in the first Test now look less like a one-off lapse and more like part of a wider disciplinary pattern.
Something in the setup needs to change. Not a panic-driven overhaul — Pakistan cricket has done far too much of that over the years, sacking captains and coaches after every bad series — but a serious, honest, evidence-based assessment of where the Test team actually stands relative to its competitors. Bangladesh were not supposed to sweep this series. The fact that they did, and that it felt almost expected by the end, tells you everything about the gap between these two sides right now. The World Test Championship table will reflect that reality. More importantly, the dressing room will feel it.
🔗 Also Read: Pakistan vs Bangladesh 1st Test — What the Scorecard Doesn't Tell You
What do you think Pakistan needs to fix before the next Test series — the batting, the bowling, the captaincy, or something deeper in the system? I'm genuinely curious what fans are thinking after this series. Let me know in the comments.
Sayed Abdullah is the founder of Prime Pakistan. Based in Karachi, he writes honest cricket analysis for the common Pakistani fan. Read more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What was Pakistan's target in the second Test?
A: Pakistan needed 437 to win, and were bowled out for 358 — losing by 78 runs.
Q: How many runs did Mohammad Rizwan score?
A: He made 94 off 166 balls — the highest individual score of Pakistan's innings.
Q: How significant is this result for Bangladesh?
A: It completes a 2-0 series sweep and marks their third consecutive Test win against Pakistan — their most dominant run in Test history.
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