BANGLADESH LEVEL SERIES

Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 143 runs and levelled the two-match series 1-1, bringing parity through a fightback after going down miserably in the first Test. It was Bangladesh's first Test win since August 2009, and their fourth Test victory.

 

The last-wicket pair of Hamilton Masakadza and Kyle Jarvis held up Bangladesh for 11.3 overs, but their resistance ended when Jarvis fell leg-before to Shakib Al Hasan 20 minutes before the tea break.

Bangladesh made it to the finish line in Harare with help from an unlikely quarter. Debutant Ziaur Rahman was hardly expected to be an influence with the ball but he picked up 4 wickets for 63 runs with his medium pace, playing the role of the third seamer. Forced to give up pace bowling due to a debilitating knee condition, Rahman has played a lot of his recent cricket as a batting allrounder.

The home side gave a good account of their fighting ability, too, but they failed to reproduce the impressive showing from the first Test. They were finally bowled out on the fifth day for 257, extending the game beyond lunch.

 

Hamilton Masakadza was steadfast at the crease, reaching his third Test hundred with a massive six. The hundred came off 212 balls and included ten fours and four sixes. The unbeaten knock was far better than the numbers suggest, given that most of his runs came while batting with the tail.

For all of his effort, Masakadza could not have saved the Test on his own. The Bangladesh bowlers managed to get the required wickets easily: Shingi Masakadza missed a sweep shot just after the drinks break, Elton Chigumbura chipped one down short midwicket's throat and Richmond Mutumbami dragged the ball on to the stumps after the lunch break.

 

Ashraful took the wicket of the younger Masakadza, who made 24 off 90 balls. It was the first breakthrough of the morning after 18.1 overs. Soon after, Chigumbura was caught by Robiul off Sohag Gazi's bowling. Mutumbami was dismissed by Ziaur Rahman, who later took the wicket of Graeme Cremer, edging the ball to Nasir Hossain at first slip.

 

Cremer and Mutumbami were expected to be stumbling blocks but the Bangladesh bowlers did not give in to Zimbabwe's resistance. Keegan Meth, batting with a right knee injury, was the ninth wicket to fall and the leg-before decision went Bangladesh's way after a loud and prolonged appeal; not the first dubious decision of the match.

 

Robiul Islam, who was named Man of the Series, also reached another landmark in the Test, becoming the first Bangladesh pace bowler to bowl more than 100 overs in a Test series, surpassing the record previously held by Khaled Mahmud who bowled 99 overs in a three-Test series against Pakistan in 2003.

 

It was perhaps apt that the two teams ended on even terms, but a third Test may have decided which team was better. There were periods of attritional cricket and, at times, both teams made several mistakes. The umpiring was shoddy, too, but in the end, the series would be remembered for performances from Brendan Taylor and Robiul.