SYLHET: Bangladesh ended the second day of the first Test against Zimbabwe trailing by only 25 runs after spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz took five wickets to restrict the visitors to 273 in their first innings in Sylhet on Monday.
It was a comeback for Bangladesh after a disappointing first day when skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and decided to bat first.
However, his batters failed to capitalise and were bowled out by an impressive Zimbabwe attack for a modest 191.
Zimbabwe then piled on the misery by racing to 67-0 by the end of play on the first day.
Starting from a commanding position, both Zimbabwe openers fell early on the second day to aggressive pace bowling by Nahid Rana.
Ben Curran was the first to go on 18 and his partner Brian Bennett, who hit an aggressive 64-ball 57, was removed soon after with the score on 88-2.
Sean Williams (59) was the only other Zimbabwe batter to reach fifty.
Wessly Madhevere (24), Nyasha Mayavo (35) and Richard Ngarava (28) all failed to build bigger scores.
Off-spinner Mehidy took the key wickets of Williams, Mayavo and Ngarava to finish with 5-52 on a wicket that was expected to help the pace bowlers.
Nahid took 3-74 with aggressive bowling in support of Mehidy.
Starting the second innings with an 82-run deficit, Bangladesh lost Shadman Islam on 4 to Blessing Muzarabani with the score on 13.
His opening partner Mahmudul Hasan Joy soldiered on to 28 in an unbeaten 44-run partnership with Mominul Haque, on 15, to end the day at 57-1.
Shanto must now hope that they can make the most of the friendly home conditions to set an imposing target for the visitors.
Bangladesh have been formidable on the slow and spin-friendly home pitches but have several veterans missing.
They have won eight of the 18 Tests against Zimbabwe, their highest total against any Test side, including four of the past five.
The second and final Test will be played in Chattogram from April 28.
SCOREBOARD
BANGLADESH (1st Innings) 191
ZIMBABWE (1st Innings, overnight 67-0):
B. Bennett c Jaker b Nahid 57
B. Curran c Mominul b Nahid 18
N. Welch b Hasan 2
S. Williams c Mahmudul b Mehidy 59
C. Ervine c Jaker b Nahid 8
W. Madhevere b Khaled 24
N. Mayavo lbw Mehidy 35
W. Masakadza c Najmul b Mehidy 6
R. Ngarava not out 28
B. Muzarabani st Jaker b Mehidy 17
V. Nyauchi c Taijul b Mehidy 7
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5, NB-3) 12
TOTAL (all out, 80.2 overs) 273
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-69 (Curran), 2-88 (Bennett), 3-88 (Welch), 4-129 (Ervine), 5-177 (Madhevere), 6-193 (Williams), 7-218 (Mayavo), 8-223 (Masakadza), 9-259 (Muzarabani)
BOWLING: Hasan 17-4-55-1 (1nb), Nahid 18-3-74-3 (2nb), Khaled 15-5-30-1, Mehidy 20.2-5-52-5, Taijul 10-0-53-0
BANGLADESH (2nd Innings):
Shadman Islam c Williams b Muzarabani 4
Mahmudul Hasan not out 28
Mominul Haque not out 15
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, W-5) 10
TOTAL (for one wicket, 13 overs) 57
FALL OF WICKET: 1-13 (Shadman)
STILL TO BAT: Najmul Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan, Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed, Nahid Rana
BOWLING: Nyauchi 5-2-11-0 (1w), Muzarabani 4-0-21-1, Ngarava 4-0-20-0
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2025