The right-handed Brendan Taylor was the best batsman for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh on the third day of the second and final Test match in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
He made 110 runs, his fifth century in Tests, and his first away from home.
He was happy with his performance, though he knows Bangladesh are in the driver’s seat and a draw is the only option for Zimbabwe now: “It is a good feeling. The last few years, the three-Test match series in 2014 was a tough series, and it always is tough playing here against a world-class spin attack. So I’m thrilled with that, but we’re still a long way behind in the game. When Bangladesh have 500, it’s very hard to lose from that position.”
The pitch in Mirpur is starting to become more and more bowler-friendly and things will only get more difficult from here.
The right-handed batsman added: “The first half [Tuesday] was ok. It was starting to change and break up a little bit, but it played surprisingly well. But the spinners are always at you, they never let you off and they make it very difficult for you to score. And especially here in Dhaka, we see that on day four and five the batting just gets harder and harder.”
#Taijul enjoying leading #Tigers bowling in #Shakib’s absence https://t.co/p4QwHZqOKZ
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) November 13, 2018
The former Zimbabwe captain praised Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam for his performances and especially how he stepped up in place of an injured Shakib al Hasan.
He also had praise for Mushfiqur Rahim for the way he batted to achieve his second double century: “Taijul is in some serious form. He’s stepped up into the gap with Shakib not being there. When they play together, they are a very strong attack. He’s done an incredible job, and the way Mushy (Mushfiqur Rahim) has played to face that many balls and show that sort of concentration and discipline, it was an incredible knock. We admired what he did. He’s batted us out of this game. It just shows his class as a player.”
The 32-year old rated this century very highly even though Taylor said facing the spinners from Bangladesh has always been a challenge.
“Over the years (Abdur) Razzak, Shakib, even Mohammed Rafique, they’ve always been a tough challenge, whether we play in Harare or Bulawayo, it’s always tough. So [Tuesday] is probably one of my better ones,” Taylor said.
Taylor though believes there is a lot to play for in this Test and to achieve a draw would be a massive result for the visitor: “It will be an incredible feeling and a wonderful achievement. Bangladesh have generally dominated us in Bangladesh for years, so even just to get a Test win, that was huge in Khulna. That’s something that I will cherish for a long time. There’s a lot to play for. The discussion [Tuesday] will be that we have a lot to play for. There’s no lying down and giving up, we have to keep fighting.”
2ND TEST, DAY 3
BANGLADESH 1ST INNINGS R B
Liton c Mavuta b Jarvis 9 35
Imrul c Chakabva b Jarvis 0 16
Mominul c Chari b Chatara 161 247
Mithun c Taylor b Jarvis 0 4
Mushfiq not out 219 421
Taijul c Chakabva b Jarvis 4 10
Mahmudullah c Chakabva b Jarvis 36 110
Ariful c Chari b Jarvis 4 18
Miraz not out 68 102
Extras (b 9, lb 8, nb 3, w 1) 21
Total (160 Overs) 522/7d
Fall Of Wickets
1-13 (Imrul), 2-16 (Liton), 3-26 (Mithun), 4-292 (Mominul), 5-299 (Taijul), 6-372 (Mahmudullah), 7-378 (Ariful)
Bowling
Jarvis 28-6-71-5, Chatara 22.2-12-34-1, Tiripano 24.4-6-65-1, Raza 22-1-111-0, Williams 30-4-80-0, Mavuta 31-1-137-0, Masakadza 2-0-7-0
ZIMBABWE 1ST INNINGS R B
Masakadza c Miraz b Taijul 14 44
Tiripano c Miraz b Taijul 8 46
Taylor c Taijul b Miraz 110 194
Williams b Taijul 11 28
Raza b Taijul 0 12
Moor lbw b Ariful 83 114
Chakabva c Mominul b Taijul 10 42
Mavuta c Ariful b Miraz 0 2
Jarvis not out 9 23
Chatara absent hurt - -
Extras (b 5, lb 1) 6
Total (105.3 Overs) 304
Fall Of Wickets
2-40 (Tiripano), 3-96 (Chari), 4-129 (Williams), 5-131 (Raza), 6-270 (Moor), 7-290 (Taylor), 8-290 (Mavuta), 9-304 (Chakabva)
Bowling
Mustafizur 21-8-58-0, Khaled 18-7-48-0, Taijul 40.3-10-107-5, Miraz 20-3-61-3, Mahmudullah 2-0-14-0, Ariful 4-2-10-1
Zimbabwe trail by 218 runs
