A record partnership of 167 between opener Javed Omar and one-down Habibul Bashar saw the tourists close on a commanding 240 for two. Although Bashar lost the opportunity to become the first Bangladeshi to score back-to-back centuries after he was trapped lbw on 97, Omar made sure that the Tigers retained the upper hand with a typically patient and gutsy 96 not out. The talented Mohammad Ashraful (34 not out) celebrated his recall by sharing a 60-run unbroken stand with Omar.

Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud won the toss in the morning and had no hesitation in electing to bat on an ideal batting track.

Though Bangladesh lost an early wicket on 13 when in-form opener Hannan Sarkar edged right arm pacer Umar Gul into the safe hands of Rashid Latif, Javed and Bashar put the Pakistan bowling to sword and batted for nearly four hours to set the best partnership record for Bangladesh for any wicket.

Interestingly, the previous best partnership was also shared by the two when they crafted a 131-run second wicket stand against South Africa at Chittagong in April this year.

The partnership was broken in the seventh over after tea when Bashar was adjudged leg before to an incoming ball from right arm fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed.

"The ball came low and I thought it was going down the leg," said a content Bashar after the day's play.

Bashar, who scored his 14th half-century, also said the sweltering heat of Peshawar didn't bother him.

"Karachi was more humid. The wicket was also much better than Karachi and the ball was coming on to the bat," he said.

In his 238-minute vigil at the crease, Bashar, whose fifty came off 82 balls in 117 minutes, faced 167 balls and hammered nine sweetly-timed hits across the rope.

Javed, one of the three batsmen in Test history to have carried their bat through on debut, smote 16 boundaries in his 286-ball knock.

Ashraful, the 19-year old right hander who scored 114 on his debut against Sri Lanka in September 2001, curbed his aggressive instincts yesterday and kept his cool in 96-minute stay in the wicket. He hit three boundaries.

In contrast, it was a frustrating day for Pakistan, who lost their previous two Test matches in Peshawar against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

None of their bowlers could looked threatening to the Bangladeshis as they got only two wickets yesterday, one each by medium pacers Umar Gul and Shabbir Ahmed. Their speedstar Shoaib Akhter conceded 28 runs in his 11 overs.

Leg spinner Danish Kaneria and off spinner Shoaib Malik, who suffered a groin injury while fielding in the second session and was off since then, also failed to get any wicket.