Fast bowler Tendai Chatara and off-spinner Sikandar Raza claimed three wickets each as Zimbabwe took control of the first Test against Bangladesh by taking a sizeable 140-run lead on the second day Sunday. Pace bowler Kyle Jarvis complemented Chatara (3-19) and Raza (3-35) with 2-28.
While the combination of Chatara and Jarvis rocked Bangladesh’s top order, leaving them 19-4, Raza took care of the lower order to help the side wrap up the hosts for 143. Zimbabwe was bowled out for 282 in its first innings. With a commanding 139-run lead, Zimbabwe reached 1-0 in its second innings before bad light brought an end to the day. Chatara started out by dismissing Imrul Kayes for 5 while his fellow opener Liton Das perished to a loose shot against Jarvis to fall for 9. Chatara then put Bangladesh in trouble, dealing a double strike to remove Nazmul Hossain (5) and captain Mahmudullah (0) with near-flawless fast bowling.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque (11) offered brief resistance before Raza got the better of the latter with an off-break. Jarvis got extra bounce with a full length delivery to end Rahim’s vigil, to effectively terminate Bangladesh’s hopes of a fight back. Rahim scored 31.
However the hosts found hope in debutant Ariful Haque but Raza continued to baffle the lower order batsmen with his sly off-break, leaving Haque stranded on 41. Earlier, left-arm spinner Taijul Islam took 6-108 to contain the tourists below 300, after Zimbabwe had started the day at 236-5.
