NEW: Another bad day in the office for Chevrons

It was another bad day in the office for the Chevrons, as a batting collapse saw the hosts loosen their grip on day three of the one-off Test against Bangladesh at Harare Sports Club on Friday.

Zimbabwe’s dramatic decline saw them get bowled out for 275, losing their last eight wickets for 51 runs after being comfortably placed at 225 for 2.

Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz claimed his eighth five-for in Tests and second abroad, as he and Shakib Al Hasan shared nine wickets.

Miraz took his last four wickets in 19 deliveries.

Only Takudzwanashe Kaitano’s 87, which came off 311 deliveries, kept them in the middle for much of the day.

Kaitano has now faced the third-most balls on debut for a Zimbabwean.

He defended well for much of the innings, although for long periods his scoring got stuck.

He added 61 for the first wicket with Milton Shumba and 115 with Brendan Taylor for the second wicket, but afterwards saw his batting partners struggle against Bangladesh’s miserly bowling.

The first part of Zimbabwe’s collapse was in the middle session when for a period of 7.3 overs they lost three wickets for four runs.

The second collapse saw them lose their last five wickets for 14 runs.

Miraz turned things around when he ended Kaitano’s long vigil after the tea break.

The opener tickled Miraz down the leg side, with Liton Das taking a good catch.

Once Bangladesh got the set Kaitano out, Miraz feasted on the long tail.

He removed Donald Tiripano, Victor Nyauchi and Blessing Muzarabani in his next three overs, with Tiripano trapped leg-before-wicket (lbw), Nyauchi undone by a good length delivery, while Muzarabani was bowled out.

Shakib ended the innings by getting Richard Ngarava, caught at slip for the fourth duck of the innings.

Zimbabwe’s batting was quite the contrast before lunch.

In the first 26 overs, they scored 95 runs with plenty of flair.

Captain Taylor batted at better than run-a-ball, reaching his fifty with a straight six off Shakib.

He then went after Ebadat Hossain, who was otherwise quite disciplined in his first spell.

Taylor went onto a higher gear against Miraz, reverse sweeping him a couple of times in the offspinner’s first over of the day.

But in his second over, Miraz got the big wicket when Taylor’s suicidal sweep got him caught at square leg, where Yasir Ali was well positioned.

Ali was substituted for Mushfiqur Rahim, who picked up a finger injury while batting on the first day.

Taylor’s 81 contained 12 fours and a six.

Dion Myers continued Taylor’s rhythm with a four and a six before lunch, but went into his shell after the break.

After scratching around for another 37 balls, Myers swept one down fine leg’s throat, off Shakib.

Shakib had Timycen Maruma lbw sweeping, the fourth batter to fall to the shot, for a 17-ball duck.

Taskin Ahmed had Roy Kaia caught behind for a duck too.

At stumps 45 for no loss, and with a lead of 237 runs, openers Saif Hassan (20) and Shadman Islam (22) looked comfortable. – Cricinfo/Sports Reporter