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Another poor show with the bat by the hosts puts Zimbabwe on the hunt for a win
Published : 23 Apr 2025, 10:10 AM
Blessing Muzarabani has led a penultimate-day fightback with a six-wicket haul as Zimbabwe rattled Bangladesh by bundling them out for 255 in their second innings of the opening Test.
After a rain-delayed start on Day 4, the hosts’ wickets fell like ninepins as they lost six batters for just 61 runs in an action-packed morning where Zimbabwe came out on top and were set a 174-target for victory at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe were 4 for no loss at the stroke of lunch with openers Ben Curran (3) and Brian Bennett (1) leading the chase.
If they reach the target, Zimbabwe will make history as they have never successfully chased more than 162 in a Test match. That record came in 1998, when they beat Pakistan by seven wickets while chasing exactly 162.
Aside from that, Zimbabwe have only two other successful chases of over 100 runs in Test cricket.
After a slight delay to the start of play due to a wet outfield, Bangladesh resumed leading Zimbabwe by 112, an overnight 194 for 4, aiming for an imposing target to pile pressure on the Eagles for the final innings. But things did not go as planned for Najmul Hossain Shanto and his men.
Shanto (60) fell after skying Muzarabani off only the second ball of the day.
Bangladesh’s 5-for hero Mehidy Hasan Miraz joined Jaker Ali (58) in the middle, pushing his team past 200. However, he ended up edging a Muzarabani delivery to the slips for just 11 as Bangladesh’s batting woes continued into the morning.
Zimbabwe bowlers maintained a probing line to dismiss Taijul Islam (1) but Jaker then put up some resistance with Hasan Mahmud (12) to add 35 runs to the total.
Jaker, however, was running out of partners at the other end when he decided to smash some quick runs. But it backfired as he went down swinging as the last wicket to Muzarabani, who finished with 6 for 72.
The collapse followed Bangladesh’s tame show with the bat in the first innings when they crumbled from 98-2 to 146-7 in the first innings before managing 191. Zimbabwe had scored 273 in their first innings.
