Zimbabwe 136 for 1 (Kaia 76*, Curran 42, Khaled 1-33) trail Bangladesh 140 (Mominul 60, Nyamhuri 4-61, Ngarava 2-18, Muzarabani 2-19) by 4 runs
Zimbabwe won every significant thing from the toss to the last ball to gain a massive advantage on day one in their Only Test against Bangladesh in Harare.
All of their four bowlers got a minimum of two wickets and their openers wiped off over 60 percent of the visitors' score in 98 balls. With only four runs to parity and nine wickets in hand, an innings victory is well within grasp.
Richard Ngarava, on his first day as Test captain, took 2 for 18, and arguably bowled the ball of the day to get Musfiqur Rahim. Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans shared two each too. Muzarabani got lower-order wickets. Evans took out opener Shadman Islam and Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. Newman Nyamhuri's four-for included two specialists and two tail-enders.
Mominul Haque's 60 was the highest score in the innings, 40 more than the second best. Eight batters fell in single figures, but Shanto's dismissal was the most notable.
Ben Curran and Innocent Kaia then dominated the final session. Bangladesh's three-man pace attack conceded 116 runs in 24 overs at a run rate of nearly five.
"This'll do a bit early," is perhaps what both sides said looking at the pitch at the start of the day. The captains mentioned grass and moisture in the wicket at the toss. Shanto said there could be extra bounce early on and there certainly was.
It almost had Ngarava nick Shadman off in the first over and did have Muzarabani hit Mahmudul Hasan Joy's finger in the fourth. Plays and misses were common and the first bowling change came six overs in.
Nyamhuri struck right away. Hit hit the pitch and decked the ball back in to have Mahmudul caught behind. The batter wasn't happy but had to walk back with DRS not available.
Muzarabani missed his lines at times but nearly got Shadman Islam in the eighth over as the ball fell in front of point. Both Shadman and Mominul cut free against loose balls, picking up two fours each in the space of two overs.
The second bowling change brought about Shadman's wicket. Evans got the ball to bounce off a length and the edge went to second slip. He then built pressure alongside Ngarava which almost led to a wicket. But Curran dropped Shanto off Ngarava at third slip. The following over saw three fours but the duo kept things tight and Bangladesh went into lunch at 72 for 2.
The first half of the second hour was defined by near misses for Zimbabwe. Shanto struggled for timing while Mominul was more secure. The second boundary he hit in the 28th over brought up his fifty at a strike rate of 82.81.
The elusive wicket seemed to be in the air as Muzarabani had a close lbw shout each against both batters in the 31st and the 33rd over. The breakthrough arrived from the other end as Mominul gave catching practice to Craig Ervine at second slip off Nyamhuri.
The collapse began there but the red alert came when Shanto charged Evans and was caught behind. Shanto wanted to hit him off his length in a new spell and looked to flay it off a length over cover. Mushfiqur was solid and it needed a fiery yorker from Ngarava to breach his defence and uproot middle stump.
Amite Hasan nearly bagged a golden duck and mistimed a big shot third ball into his innings. Two balls later, Towhid Hridoy was caught behind having been rushed by Ngarava. Amite, also caught behind, handed Muzarabani his first wicket by fending at a seaming ball.
The tail were not in for a long time, nor a good time. Taijul Islam got two boundaries before Nyamhuri and Muzarabani took the last three wickets in the space of ten balls. Tea was taken early as Bangladesh were bowled out in 47.2 overs.
Zimbabwe's openers got off to a start despite the ball playing the odd trick. The left-right combination of Curran and Kaia got quick singles to ensure the bowlers had to shift their lines.
Curran survived an edged drive that went over the slips and diffused a potentially spicy situation when the first-change bowler Ebadot Hossain tried to have a word with him in the tenth over. The cut shot made regular appearances as Ebadot and Khaled Ahmed lost their lines and lengths.
Both openers got their first four after the fifth over and had 13 at the 15-over mark as Zimbabwe raced to 87 for 0. Curran fell against the run of play, edging a snorter from Khaled to second slip. Kaia brought up his 61-ball fifty in the 21st over. Zimbabwe reached their hundred soon after.
With the shadows lengthening, the batters got more cautious. Hasan Mahmud was consistent and got away when a full toss that slipped off his hand to gully was called a dead ball and not a no-ball. Taijul Islam got turn and bowled tight.
Kaia passed his previous highest Test score of 77 off Ebadot in the 31st over. With Bredon Taylor for company, he all but got Zimbabwe to parity with nine wickets in hand.
