Liton's 95 revives stuttering Tigers
Liton Das fell agonisingly short of his maiden Test ton but his solid career-best 95 along with Mahmudullah Riyad's unbeaten fifty helped Bangladesh recover from a vulnerable situation and end the opening day of their one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Harare with a decent score on board.
Bangladesh managed a score of 294 for eight in 83 overs before umpires called Stumps on Day 1 shortly after the play was briefly halted for bad light late in the day at the Harare Sports Club. Mahmudullah, who made a return to the Test squad after almost 17 months, remained unbeaten on 54 off 141 deliveries with Taskin Ahmed on 13 off 15 at the other end.
Bangladesh recovered from being six down for just 132 through an inspiring 138-run seventh-wicket stand between Liton and Mahmudullah. However, just when Bangladesh were looking to take back control of the game, Zimbabwe pacer Donald Tiripano struck twice in back-to-back deliveries, picking up the crucial wicket of Liton and following that with the one of Mehedi Hasan Miraz, to help his side get back in the game at the latter stage of the game.
On a day when Bangladesh's top order collapsed miserably, skipper Mominul Haque still found a way to stay long enough at the crease to score a solid 92-ball 70.
For Zimbabwe, pacer Blessing Muzarabani was the most impressive one. The pacer's onslaught in the early hours of the day had pushed the Tigers on the backfoot at the very beginning of the game. Blessing ended with figures of three for 48 in 16 overs that featured three maidens.
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