Mahmudullah and Taskin Ahmed stitched a brilliant 191-run stand for the ninth wicket which is the second-highest stand for this wicket in the history of Test cricket.
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Bangladesh were in deep trouble at 270/8. This represented a semi-recovery after they were reduced to 132/6 in the one-off Test at Harare against Zimbabwe. However, Liton Das and Mominul Haque staged a mini-recovery by sharing a partnership of 138 runs. Das missed out on his century by five runs while the skipper Momimul was bowled for 70. What followed afterwards was a remarkable performance of batting by the Bangladesh lower order.
Mahmudullah, the veteran who was not a 100 percent fit in the match, stitched a record 191-run stand for the ninth-wicket with Taskin Ahmed. Mahmudullah notched up a fine 150 while Taskin, just like Das, missed out on his century by nine runs. The partnership of 191 runs was historic in many ways for Bangladesh and cricket.
The 191-run stand for Bangladesh was the best for the side in Test cricket for the ninth wicket. However, this was the second-best ninth-wicket stand in the history of Test cricket, behind 195 between Pat Symcox and Mark Boucher of South Africa against Pakistan in 1998.
In that match 23 years ago, Symcox hit a brilliant century and Boucher followed it with 78 as South Africa recovered from 166/8 to reach 364. The match was rained off. In this, Bangladesh was reeling at one point. It took some wonderful partnerships from the lower middle order to help them finish on 468.
Mahmudullah became the fifth Bangladesh player to score 150 or more in an overseas Test. Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim are the only Bangladesh players to have scored a double ton in overseas Tests. Mohammad Ashraful and Najmul Hussain Shanto are the other players to have scored over 150. Ashraful and Shanto scored 190 and 163 against Sri Lanka in Galle and Pallekele in 2013 and 2021.
Bangladesh might have recovered from a precarious position. Zimbabwe got a good start with Takudzwanashe Kaitano and skipper Brendan Taylor hit fifties. Taylor was reaching his century as Zimbabwe looked to get into a winning position.
Zimbabwe last won a Test series 10 years back. In 2011, against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe made a winning comeback after being away from Test cricket for five years. Since then, they have drawn some series against Pakistan and Bangladesh in 2013. When Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh in 2018, the two-Test series was drawn 1-1. Zimbabwe’s recent series was against Afghanistan in the UAE which they drew 1-1.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, won against Zimbabwe in 2019. However, the side has not won a single series against top-ranked opposition. Their best period was in 2015 from 2017 in which they lost a single series. They drew against South Africa, Australia, England, India, and Sri Lanka. They lost only one series at that time and that was to New Zealand in 2016. In that series, Shakib Al Hasan had hit a rare double century.
After the end of the Test, Bangladesh will play three ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals against Zimbabwe. All the matches will be played at the Harare Sports Club.
