Bangladesh pulled off an emphatic victory by an innings and 106 runs against Zimbabwe in the solitary Test match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday. After losing six previous Test matches on the trot, Bangladesh finally ended the drought with this resounding win.
There were lots of positives to take from this Test match, from Mushfiqur Rahim’s unbeaten double ton to young spinner Nayeem Hasan’s 9-wicket haul, Tigers prevailed against the Zimbabweans with a blend of team work and individual brilliance. With Tuesday’s win, Tigers secured their first win in Test format since December 2018, and only their second innings win ever.
After taking 4 wickets in the first innings, Nayeem scalped 5 in the second, and finished with figures of 82/5 while Taijul Islam took four wickets. Zimbabwe were trailing by 286 runs at the start of Day 4 but spin wizards Nayeem and Taijul’s trickery folded the Zimbabweans at 189 runs in their second innings, inflicting an innings defeat of 106 runs.
Bangladesh performed brilliantly as a team since Day 1 of the Test match. Pacer Abu Jayed and spinner Nayeem Hasan were fantastic with the ball, with the latter claiming the crucial wicket of Ervine when he could have walked away with the initiative. When Tigers batted, they were anchored by the two most dependable batsmen of the team, Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur. Together the two of them batted Zimbabwe out of the game. The bowlers then came on in the second innings and tidied up the rest of the job.
In the post-match presentation ceremony, wicketkeeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his superlative 203-run unbeaten knock. “As a team, we needed this win badly. This was a really flat wicket, and our bowlers were excellent. We needed someone to bat really big, and I was lucky to get to a double hundred. Tamim and Shanto gave us a great start, and then Liton also chipped in with some good runs,” said Mushfiq.
Skipper Mominul Haque, who secured his first victory as Bangladesh Test skipper, sounded very pleased with his team’s performance. “We need to play good cricket, and everyone gets some confidence from a win like this. Nayeem has been doing really well, and some other important performances were from Shanto, Tamim and Liton. Everyone did well, and I am happy for the team. We tried to put up a big score and we were able to get that. We are hoping to win the ODI series too, and good luck to the boys,” he concluded.
