Zimbabwe seal Sylhet thriller to complete first away Test win since 2021
Mehidy completed ten wickets in the game but Bennett and Curran laid a strong platform to enable the visitors to go 1-0 up
Mehidy completed ten wickets in the game but Bennett and Curran laid a strong platform to enable the visitors to go 1-0 up
Scorer: Harshith Gowda | Commentator: Shashwat Kumar
6pm And...breathe. The result and the emotions that ebbed and flowed in that last hour will take even longer to sink in. But those that watched this game will remember and reminisce over this, and will do so very fondly, as an epic encounter of Test cricket. We hope you enjoyed our coverage throughout these four days and we will be back for more Bangladesh-Zimbabwe action, as these teams take each other on starting Monday. Until then, from Chetan, Harshith, Rashad and myself (Shashwat), this is goodbye. Take care, folks!
5:30pm Wow. What a game of Test cricket. A few hours ago, it seemed that Zimbabwe will coast to victory. Their openers were firing on all cylinders and they were barely batting an eyelid doing so. But then, this game turned. And this game turned just how this beautiful, beautiful format of cricket is meant to.
Bangladesh prised open a window of opportunity and nearly barged through it. But while they were designing plans to shunt through that space, they encountered Madhevere - solid as a rock, and with nerves of pure steel. Despite the carnage and debris around him, he kept his head and found vital cameos from Masakadza and Ngarava along the way, ensuring that Zimbabwe have their first Test win since March 2021, and their first Test victory on these shores since 2018 (also at Sylhet).
Coming back to Bangladesh, they will view this game as a missed chance. Not because of what unfolded in the last couple of hours, but due to what transpired before it. A poor first-innings display left them playing catch-up, and despite Mehidy bagging a ten-wicket haul along the way, and Mominul producing twin fifties, not to mention Shanto's efforts, they just had too much of a mountain to climb.
One hit will do it for Ngarava and Zimbabwe. But will he take that option?
Just five more needed now
"He has been in poor form in the past and made comebacks," Najmul Hossain Shanto says of Mushfiqur Rahim, who has a highest score of 37 in his last 12 Test innings
Mehidy completed ten wickets in the game but Bennett and Curran laid a strong platform to enable the visitors to go 1-0 up
The tall fast bowler picked up 9 for 112 to spearhead Zimbabwe to a rare Test match victory
He made use of the life he got on 26 to put Bangladesh 112 ahead despite Muzarabani's three strikes on 44-over day
Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani, meanwhile, feels they are in the contest, despite the hosts leading by 112 with six wickets remaining