Mehidy Hasan Miraz took his second five-wicket haul of the match but couldn’t prevent Zimbabwe from sealing a thrilling three-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first of the two-match Test series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Chasing 174, Zimbabwe were 95-0 at one point as openers Brian Bennett (54) and Ben Curran (44) threatened to finish the match in a hurry. But Curran’s wicket in the 21st over of the innings off Mehidy opened the floodgates for the hosts as Zimbabwe lost six wickets for 50 runs.
Mehidy claimed his fifth of the innings by dismissing Wellington Masakadza when Zimbabwe were 13 runs away from victory.
But Wessly Madhevere (19*) and Richard Ngarava held their nerves to give Zimbabwe their first away victory since 2021 and first over Bangladesh since 2018.
With his second fifer, Mehidy became only the second bowler after Taijul Islam from Bangladesh to take 10 wickets in a match in a losing cause.
Interestingly, Taijul’s effort was also against the same opposition when Bangladesh lost to Zimbabwe at the same venue in 2018.
Bangladesh managed only 61 runs on the fourth day with the remaining six wickets, as the start of the play was delayed by one hour due to a wet outfield.
Najmul Hossain Shanto lasted only two deliveries, as he failed to add anything to his overnight 60 runs. Jaker Ali fought hard in his 55-run innings but didn’t get much of a company from the other end.
Tall and lanky pacer Blessing Muzarabani took 6-72 and eventually was adjudged the player of the match for his nine-wicket haul in the match.
But it was Bangladesh’s batting at fault again as they failed to grab the momentum. Shanto, though, wants to take the full blame on himself.
‘If you ask me about this match as a captain, the match was lost because of me,’ Shanto said after the defeat.
‘That’s the truth. That wicket of mine in the early morning ruined the whole match.’
‘If we had added 50-60 more runs at that time, we would have been in a better position. I don’t want to look back at everyone’s dismissal during the match. I am taking all the responsibilities since my dismissal came at a very bad time,’ added the southpaw.
Craig Ervine, the Zimbabwean captain, also said that Shanto’s wicket boosted their confidence.
 ‘We wanted to get early wickets. Getting Shanto out as early as that in the first over was great for us. I thought the way Bless started was outstanding. He gave us the opportunity to put the squeeze on,’ said Ervine.
Shanto also said that the problem of the batters, who have been failing continuously, was a mental one.
‘It’s tough to point out the problems,’ he said. ‘Every dismissal was soft. I don’t think we gave away wickets to very good balls. This is more of a mental [problem] than a skill. I think the batters who got out after getting set should take more responsibility.’
This was the sixth consecutive loss in the Test format for Bangladesh at home. But Shanto insisted that they should play on this type of sporting wicket again in Chattogram, where the second Test will be held from April 28 to May 2.
 ‘We played bad cricket [here]. I hope the wicket will be good in the next match too,’ said Shanto.
‘I don’t think taking home advantage to a great extent will be necessary just because we have lost a match. It depends on the opposition. I think we should play on this type of wicket against this opposition,’ he added.
