History was created at Sylhet as Zimbabwe defeated Bangladesh by 151 runs in the first Test. It was their first win in 5 years, third Test win away from home and the first overseas Test win since 2001. After being swept clean in the ODI series, the visitors erupted with joy as they got into the record books and took a 1-0 lead in the 2-Test series.

The visiting captain Hamilton Masakadza won the toss and elected to bat. Zimbabwe scored 282 in the first innings that saw 3 batsmen going past 50 but none of them carried on to 3 figures. Sean Williams top-scored with 88 while Peter Moor made an unbeaten 63 and the captain scored 52. For the hosts, Taijul Islam was the standout as he took 6 wickets.

Pacers Tendai Chatara and Kyle Jarvis broke the backbone of Bangladesh’s 1st innings. The initial spell brought the opposition down to 19/4 and they never recovered. The hosts were bowled out for just 143 which didn’t have a single half-century score. Apart from the pacers, Sikandar Raza also shone with 3 wickets.

Bangladesh did better with the ball in the second innings by knocking Zimbabwe over for 181. But the visitors had taken a massive lead of 320 runs. Masakadza once again played a decent knock of 48 while Taijul managed to pick up 5 wickets again.

It was always going to be difficult for Bangladesh to chase down 321 batting fourth. After the opening stand of 56, they lost momentum and lost wickets at regular intervals. The debutant Brendon Mavuta bagged 4 wickets as the hosts were bundled out for 169 on day 4 handing a dominant victory to Zimbabwe.

Match Summary

Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bat first

Zimbabwe 1st innings: 282/10 in 117.3 overs

Sean Williams 88 (173), Peter Moor 63* (192)

Taijul Islam 108/6 (39.3), Nazmul Islam 49/2 (23)

Bangladesh 1st innings: 143/10 in 51 overs

Ariful Haque 41* (96), Mushfiqur Rahim 31 (54)

Tendai Chatara 19/3 (10), Sikandar Raza 35/3 (12)

Zimbabwe 2nd innings: 181/10 in 65.4 overs

Hamilton Masakadza 48 (104), Sikandar Raza 25 (30)

Taijul Islam 62/5 (28.4), Mehidy Hasan 48/3 (19)

Bangladesh 2nd innings: 169/10 in 63.1 overs

Imrul Kayes 43 (103), Ariful Haque 38 (37)

Brendon Mavuta 21/4 (10), Sikandar Raza 41/3 (17)

Zimbabwe won by 151 runs

Player of the Match: Sean Williams

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