Zimbabwe made a successful return to Test cricket by registering a win over Bangladesh on the final day of the only Test match. The African side, led by Brendan Taylor, defeated the visitors by a margin of 130 runs, as their skipper scored a decisive century on Day 4 to set a total out of the reach of Bangladesh.
Zimbabwe make a winning return to Test cricket
The match at the Harare started with a good batting display by the hosts, with the top four batsmen performing well enough to fetch their team a total of 375. The openers, Tino Mawoyo (43) and Vusi Sibanda (78), made a 102-run partnership before Rubel Hossain gave Bangladesh a much needed breakthrough. Veteran batsman Hamilton Masakadza came in at no. 3 and added a few runs with Sibanda, while the latter completed his half century.
Rubel struck again to remove Sibanda who had settled well at the crease and was looking dangerous. That brought skipper Brendan Taylor to the crease. Taylor (71) and Masakadza then built the Zimbabwe innings while making a 142-run stand between them, which saw Masakadza scoring a decent century. Soon he was dismissed by Robiul Islam to make the score 304/3. The remaining players could not make a big impact as they were all out for 370.
Bangladesh replied well in their first innings by scoring 287 runs, which saw useful contributions from Shahriar Nafees (50), Mohammad Ashraful (73) and skipper Shakib al-Hasan (68). Brian Vitori took four wickets for Zimbabwe.
With an 83-run lead, Zimbabwe started their second innings decently as the openers made a 69-run stand before Rubel took his wicket yet again. The main highlight of the innings was Brendan Taylor’s not-out century, which took them to a total of 291/5 in Day 4, at which Taylor declared Zimbabwe’s innings.
The target set for Bangladesh was 375. Imrul Kayes (31) and Tamim Iqbal (43) started the second innings in the perfect way as the fours started coming from the early overs. But, the visitors lost three important wickets before the end of Day 4, meaning which a lot of work was left to be done on Day 5.
Ashraful (39) and Mushfiqur Rahim (28) tried their level best to get their team somewhere near to victory, and Abdur Razzak also played a good innings for 43 runs in the end. But, there was nothing to stop Zimbabwe’s bowling attack, which was at their best on the final day of the match. Kyle Jarvis’ spell of 4/61 and Chris Mpofu three wickets sealed a 130-run win for the hosts as Bangladesh folded at 244.
Tags: Bangladesh, Brendan Taylor, Cricket, Harare, Test Cricket, Test Match, Zimbabwe
