ZIM GETS DREAM TEST RETURN

BRENDON TAYLOR led Zimbabwe to their first Test victory after an absence of six years. They beat Bangladesh by 131 runs in Harare after putting up a splendid spirited all round performance.
The visitors won the toss and sent Zimbabwe in to bat and they made a first innings total of 370 all out. Hamilton Masakadza top scored with 104 off 244 deliveries while Vusi Sibanda and Brendon Taylor made 78 and 71 respectively. Opener Tino Mawoyo scored 43 runs on his debut after facing 76 balls with Tatenda Taibu chipping in with a valuable 23 runs and nothing much came from the rest of the team with the bat.
Bangladesh’s Hossain Rubel and captain Shakik Ul Hassan were the pick of the bowlers claiming three scalps each. Paceman Islam Rubiul posted figures of two wickets for 106 runs while top spinner Abdul Razzak and Mahmudulla picked up a wicket each.
The visitors were bowled for a 287 runs on day three inside 96.2 overs giving the hosts a lead of 83 runs on the second day. They had opened their batting with Tamim Iqbal and Imrun Kayes but they fell for 15 and 4 runs respectively in the first few overs of their innings. Mohammed Ashraful top scored with 73 runs while Shari Nafees and Shakib Ul Hassan managed half centuries.
Brian Vitori was the pick of the Zimbabwean bowlers as managed to post figures of four wickets for 66 runs. Chris Mpofu and Ray Price claimed to wickets each while Kyle Jarvis and former captain Elton Chigumbura managed a wicket each to conclude the Bangladesh innings.
Zimbabwe started batting their second innings on day three and lost three quick wickets ending the day on 92 runs for four wickets. Taylor(1 05) and Taibu (59) resumed on day four as they posted a fifth wicket stand of 113 runs. Zimbabwe went on to make 291 runs and declared leaving the visitors needing a massive 375 runs for victory.
Resuming from an overnight total of 112 for three on day five, Bangladesh failed to deal with the morning movement of the Harare Sports club wicket. They were bowled out for 244 in the 58th over with Iqbal and Razzak topped scored with 43 runs each while other meaningful contributions came from Kayes,Ashraful and Rahim handing Zimbabwe their dream test return.
Jarvis was the pick of the Zimbabwean bowlers in the second innings as he claimed four wickets for 61 runs while Mpofu was clinical with 3 wickets for 51 in 10 overs. The ever impressive Vitori picked one for 56 runs in 14 overs.
Bowling was so good that the seam bowlers picked up wickets with Vitori, Jarvis and Mpofu claiming fifteen wickets between them while Chigumbura managed four and Price pocketed two wickets. Batting was also impressive with Taylor top scoring with 176, Sibanda 116, Masakadza 110, Taibu 82 while Mawoyo managed 78 runs.
The Zimbabwean team had an exceptional all round performance and it was rather difficult for the commentators to figure out the man of the match. Taylor was named man of the match as he scored a total 176 and took two catches and believably for the fact that he was the architect brains behind the victory.