19 January 2005	Wednesday	08 Zilhaj 1425

DHAKA, Jan 18: Bangladesh clinched their first ever Test series victory 1-0 on Tuesday as Nafis Iqbal hit a maiden century to earn a draw with Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh, one-up after their first and only Test win in the opening match at Chittagong, batted slowly after being set an improbable 374-run target to reach 285-5 at stumps on the fifth and final day.

Iqbal, who turns 20 this month, scored a patient 121 off 355 balls with 18 fours to emerge Bangladesh's hero on the final day. He was involved in a 133-run stand with Javed Omar (43), Bangladesh's only century-plus stand for the opening wicket since gaining Test status in 2000.

"We did think of victory, but thought a draw was a better option as we had won the first Test," said Bangladeshi skipper Habibul Bashar. "If we had not lost a couple of wickets in the second session we could have tried to go for the victory.

We always knew we could draw the game even though the pitch was not easy to bat on the fifth day." Only the West Indies, India and Australia have scored more than 374 runs in the fourth innings to win a Test match.

Zimbabwe, playing their first Test series after being banned in June by the International Cricket Council for fielding weak sides, set nerves jangling when they reduced the hosts to 206-5 with 26 overs remaining in the match.

Tinashe Panyangara struck with the second new ball in the closing session when he dismissed Iqbal and Aftab Ahmed in his three overs. But Rajin Saleh and Khaled Mashud then batted steadily in fading light to ensure a creditable draw with an unfinished 79-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Saleh was unbeaten on 56 with Mashud (28) when bad light stopped play five overs before the scheduled close. "We are slightly disappointed at losing the series, but proud at the way our boys played in this match," said Zimbabwean captain Tatenda Taibu.

"We had a chance on a deteriorating wicket with leg-spinnner (Graeme) Cremer in the side. But they stuck it out. We've improved a bit but still have a lot more to do." Bangladesh batted to save rather than win the match right from the beginning as they scored less than two runs an over in the first two sessions.

Bangladesh's hopes of stepping up the run-rate were dashed in the afternoon session when they lost stroke-makers Habibul Bashar (two) and Mohammad Ashraful (three) in the space of just five runs. Panyangara bagged three wickets and Cremer two for Zimbabwe, who will now play five one-dayers against the hosts.

SCOREBOARD



Zimbabwe (1st innings) 298 



(T. Taibu 85 not out, S. Matsikenyeri 51; Enamul Haque 7-95)



Bangladesh (1st innings) 211 



(Mohammad Rafique 56; D. Hondo 6-59)



Zimbabwe (2nd innings) 286 



(T. Taibu 153, B. Taylor 78; Enamul Haque 5-105)



Bangladesh (2nd innings) (overnight 98-0):



Javed Omar c Taylor b Cremer                    43



Nafis Iqbal c Taylor b Panyangara               121



H. Bashar c Masakadza b Panyangara              2



M. Ashraful c Ebrahim b Cremer                  3



Rajin Saleh not out                             56



Aftab Ahmed c Taibu b Panyangara                5



Khaled Mashud not out                           28



Extras (b13, lb6, nb8)                          27



Total (for five wkts, 142 overs)                285



Fall of wkts: 1-133, 2-148, 3-153, 4-196, 5-206.



Bowling: Panyangara 21-10-28-3, Mpofu 22-10-29-0, 
Hondo 21-7-37-0, Chigumbura 19-7-31-0, Cremer 34-9-61-2, 
Matsikenyeri 8-0-41-0, Masakadza 10-3-11-0, 
Taylor 4-0-11-0, Rogers 3-0-17-0.



Man-of-the-Match: Tatenda Taibu (ZIM)



Series result: Bangladesh win two-Test series 1-0



Man of the series: Enamul Haque (BAN)



Umpires: Nadeem Ghauri (PAK) and Gamini Silva (SRI)



TV umpire: Mahbubur Rahman (BAN)



Match-referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI). -Agencies