Zim in strong position

Captain Brendan Taylor played another skipper’s innings, leading from the front, and was unbeaten on 81 with Zimbabwe 442 runs ahead, with two days to go in this Test, and you can’t see how they can go on and lose this one.

Either Taylor will press on for back-to-back centuries or he will try to use the morning conditions to unsettle the visitors by declaring overnight.
All that remains to be seen.

What we saw was that wickets tumbled regularly yesterday as a total of 16 wickets fell in just one day.
When stumps were drawn, Zimbabwe were firmly in command after taking a lead of 442 runs in their second innings with Taylor on 81* (off 128 balls with four fours and a six) while Meth’s unbeaten 14 came off 23 deliveries(with a four and a six) for the eighth wicket partnership.

Chasing Zimbabwe’s 389, Bangladesh started the day on 95/1 but they lost nine wickets as cheaply as they will ever be lost at this level of the game to end their first innings on 134 all.

Shingi Masakadza (4-32) and Kyle Jarvis (4-40) each managed a four-wicket haul as the Zimbabwe bowlers, who had struggled on day two, found their line and length and bowled impressively as a pack.
Meth also played a big role.
The last seven wickets fell for just 11 runs.

Zimbabwe didn’t enforce the follow-on and decided to bat again and Bangladesh’s Robiul Islam (6-55) appeared to suggest that they had made the wrong call.
Shingi Masakadza said they were right to bat again.

“It was for our own good, of course, there were a couple of wickets that we lost to Bangladesh but we knew that we still have two days to play and the decision was just in our best interest because we know that as the game progresses the wicket is going to be damp,” said Masakadza.

“We saw that batting again was a wise decision for us because the wicket is likely to suit us when we bowl on the fourth or fifth day.”
Having done well the previous night, Bangladesh probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed as they failed to hang on to their good performance, bowing to the pressure from Masakadza and Jarvis who bowled four maiden overs in the morning.

Jahurul Islam was the first to fall, just seven runs shy of a half century, after being trapped by Meth.
Mahmudullah was next to fall, again to Meth, for just 10 runs.

Shakib Al Hasan hasn’t looked the same classy player in this Test and departed cheaply with a contribution of five runs, falling to Masakadza, after he was caught by Vusimuzi Sibanda, playing a poor stroke.

Masakadza was not done yet as he added three more to his name as Malcom Waller caught Mohammad Asharaful for 38 and skipper Rahim also departed for three after being trapped just before lunch.

Then it was one year down the slope for Bangladesh as their next six batsmen all fell for 10 runs.
After lunch Zimbabwe made light work of Bangladesh getting four more wickets without a single run scored being with Jarvis taking three wickets in quick succession — making Bangladesh only the fourth side to lose five wickets on the same score.

Zimbabwe decided to go back and bat again but Islam was waiting in the wings to give them a big test and he played with pace and spirit.
“I should commend Islam for the way he ripped through Zimbabwe today, that was a really good bowling performance though we gave away one or  two wickets away in a soft manner but that is a good performance,” said Jarvis.

Masakadza  said they were unlikely to declare quickly today.
“We will see after the first hour tomorrow (today) on what decision to take because we are not in a hurry, there is still two days of play, we could wait for Taylor’s milestone,” said Masakadza.

Taylor has been impressive, leading from the front in both innings, and has provided the rock on which Zimbabwe has built their charge.
Without his contribution, the two teams would have been closely matched.

Shingi Masakadza’s fine performance with the ball also vindicated the selectors after they were harshly criticised for picking him for this match.
Graeme Cremer has also been impressive with the bat and was unlucky not to get a deserved half century yesterday, going home with his best Test score, after being caught in a mix-up with Taylor and choosing to sacrifice himself for the team in the run-out that followed.