Liton Das and Mahmudullah stars for Bangladesh to push for a late recovery on day 1 of a one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Harare. Bangladesh was collapsed on 132/6 before the duo put a 138 runs stand to ease the pressure.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, things rarely went for Bangladesh after Blessing Muzarabani removed Saif Hasan on the fifth ball of the game before getting rid of Najmul Hossain Shanto.
After struggling on 8/2, the skipper, Mominul Haque found some support from Shadman Islam. Both of them took the side across 60 but Islam fell at a stroke before lunch to give Zimbabwe the advantage.
After lunch, Haque decided to go aggressive after he settled in. Bangladesh scored six boundaries within four overs as the skipper reached his half-century.
The entertainment did not last long as Mushfiqur Rahim was trapped on the front foot by Muzarabani while the experienced Shakib Al Hasan was sent back to the pavilion by Victor Nyauchi.
Bangladesh was struggling at 109/5 and it seemed like Zimbabwe bowlers won’t let the total go far as it was not a big deal.
However, after a few overs, Zimbabwe proved why they are the lowest-ranked side in the format. Dion Myers, Milton Shumba, and Roy Kaia did not maintain the line and length as a result the runs kept flowing.
Meanwhile, Liton Das reached his half-century with a boundary in 58th over. Mahmudullah too reached the milestone in the 81st over to get over 50 runs.
The twist came just before the availability of the new ball as Donald Tiripano struck twice in the 79th over to get Zimbabwe back in the contest.
On the first ball, a stunning grab from Nyauchi at leg-slip helped the bowler get rid of Liton Das before Mehidy Hasan was trapped in an lbw on the very next ball.
Taskin Ahmed opened his account with a boundary while Mahmudullah struck two boundaries before bad light stopped the play and the umpires called off the day.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 294/8 (Liton Das 95, Mominul Haque 70; Blessing Muzarabani 3-48) vs Zimbabwe.