Zimbabwe had come as the underdog in their month-long tour of Bangladesh, and the visitor were outperformed in the three-match ODI series by the host nation, according to expectations.
But the African nation however, produced a jaw-dropping performance in the two-match Test series to finish with a draw that made their skipper Hamilton Masakadza happy.
Zimbabwe won the first match but Bangladesh won the second and final game of the series at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka to end it all square at 1-1.
Zimbabwe had entered the game with a 1-0 lead after demolishing Bangladesh in the first Test in Sylhet.
In that game, both the Zimbabwe batters and bowlers performed over-par to seal a historic 151-run victory within three and a half days.
Host @BCBtigers' dominating performance in the second and final Test match to level the series 1-1 was driven from the humiliation of the defeat in the first Test, said Bangladesh stand-in captain @Mahmudullah30.https://t.co/P8YL9WNg9L#BCBTIGERS #BCB #TIGERS #MAHMUDULLAH #ZC
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) November 15, 2018
Masakadza must have thought that they had a great chance of sealing the series against all odds, but he was happy to take home the shared title of the Test series, and content with the performance that his underrated side showcased throughout the series.
“I think the biggest thing for us is, the way the guys played in both Tests, just showed us what we can do as a team. It will give us a lot of confidence going forward. Having been in battles like this really hardens you, and you come out the better for it on the other side,” said Masakadza after the match Thursday.
“That’s the biggest lesson and the biggest positive for us that we came and showed what we can do in foreign conditions - conditions that have been really hard for pretty much everyone around the world. We came and really competed and took the game to Bangladesh. So that’s really positive and big for us,” the opening batsman added.
Zimbabwe in the Dhaka Test had grappled a strong-looking Bangladesh in the second innings.
The Tigers had posted 522/7 declared and despite having the opportunity to impose the follow-on on Zimbabwe had come out to bat for the second time.
.@TamimOfficial28 and @mushfiqur15 along with @Sah75official are the recipients of the crest and jacket with the official 10K Club emblem of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in recognition of completing ten thousand runs across 3 formats. pic.twitter.com/790CzxOi36
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) November 15, 2018
Zimbabwe bowlers made use of the opportunity and cornered Bangladesh with four early wickets.
But Bangladesh riding on captain Mahmudullah’s unbeaten 101 and Mohammad Mithun’s 67 made a comeback and set 443 runs for Zimbabwe to chase in four sessions.
“Obviously you never know what can happen with cricket. If we had managed to build on those four wickets, we might have managed to keep them down to something sort of 320 to 350 which we would definitely have fancied our chances of getting. That wicket didn’t really deteriorate or misbehave as much as we expected it to, or as much as it normally does. If we’d managed to get a few more after they were four down, we could have had them under pressure,” said the visiting skipper.
However, despite the inspiration taken, Zimbabwe will not have any immediate international engagement as they failed to qualify for the World Cup that will take place in the middle of next year.
2ND TEST
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
BANGLADESH 2ND INNINGS R B
Liton b Jarvis 6 14
Imrul c Mavuta b Jarvis 3 12
Mominul c Chakabva b Tiripano 1 5
Mithun c Chakabva b Raza 67 110
Mushfiq c Mavuta b Tiripano 7 19
Mahmudullah not out 101 122
Ariful b Williams 5 8
Miraz not out 27 34
Extras (b5, lb1, w1) 7
Total (54 overs) 224/6d
Fall Of Wickets
1-10 (Imrul), 2-10 (Liton), 3-10 (Mominul), 4-25 ( Liton), 5-143 ( Mithun), 6-151 (Ariful)
Bowling
Jarvis 11-2-27-2, Tiripano 11-1-31-2, Williams 16-2-69-1 (w1), Raza 7-0-39-1, Mavuta 9-0-52-0
ZIMBABWE 2ND INNINGS R B
Masakadza c Mominul b Miraz 25 68
Chari lbw b Taijul 43 82
Taylor not out 106 167
Williams b Mustafizur 13 33
Raza c & b Taijul 12 33
Moor c Imrul b Miraz 13 79
Chakabva run out (Mominul/Mushfiq) 2 8
Tiripano c Liton b Miraz 0 9
Mavuta c Taijul b Miraz 0 11
Jarvis c Khaled b Miraz 1 9
Chatara absent hurt - -
Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 5) 9
Total 224 all out
Fall Of Wickets
1-68 (Masakadza), 2-70 (Chari), 3-99 (Williams), 4-120 (Raza), 5-186 (Moor), 6-199 (Chakabva), 7-201 (Tiripano), 8-213 (Mavuta), 9-224 (KM Jarvis, 83.1 ov)
Bowling
Mustafizur 10-2-19-1, Taijul 37-5-93-2, Khaled 12-4-45-0, Miraz 18.1-5-38-5, Ariful 3-1-7-0, Mahmudullah 1-0-1-0, Mominul 2-0-17-0
Bangladesh won by 218 runs, level series 1-1
MoM: Mushfiqur Rahim
MoS: Taijul Islam
