Sports Desk: Taijul Islam pegged away through the course of Day 3 and took a five-wicket haul as Bangladesh stamped their authority in the Dhaka Test versus Zimbabwe. For the visitors, Brendan Taylor cracked a superlative 110 while Peter Moor composed a stroke-filled 83, but both were dismissed in the final session and Zimbabwe were bowled out for 304. With 218 runs in front, Bangladesh now have the option of enforcing the follow on, reports Cricbuzz.
For long periods of the second and final session, Moor and Taylor glued the visiting side’s innings together. Taylor, who started on an aggressive note, essaying his customary slog sweeps and lofts, dropped anchor with Moor taking on the mantle of disrupting the lengths of Bangladesh’s spinners. With drives, horizontal-bat shots and steers through the third man region, Moor kept the scorecard ticking over.
After the tea break, Taylor joined in the act with some glorious drives and well timed flicks and sweeps. With the duo stitching a partnership in excess of 100, Bangladesh’s fielders looked flat. At that stage, Mustafizur Rehman almost lifted their spirits by tempting Moor to chip one through covers only for Nazmul Islam to put down the chance. Taylor also was offered a reprieve when Mushfiqur Rahim fluffed a chance in the 91st over.
At 270 for 5, the duo looked set to even steer Zimbabwe to stumps. However, just in the nick of time Ariful Haque, the batting all rounder, prised out Moor leg-before. Moor took the review but to no avail. Despite losing his batting partner, Taylor carried on collecting runs and reached his fifth Test century away from home. Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, Taylor soon played a tired (sweep) shot and was brilliantly caught by Taijul Islam in the deep. Mehidy Hasan also dislodged Brandon Mavuta to leave Zimbabwe eight down. Taijul then snuffed out Kyle Jarvis to pick up his third successive five-wicket haul and to bring to an end Zimbabwe’s innings. Tendai Chatara, the last man, couldn’t come out to bat due to his injury.
Earlier in the day, the two overnight batsmen, Brian Chari (53) and Donald Tiripano, began on a cautious note. After surviving for close to 50 balls, Tiripano, the nightwatchman, was dismissed by Taijul. Chari then was hit on the helmet for the second time during the day’s play by Khaled. The blow seemed to spur the opener to take the aggressive route as he suddenly opened up his shoulders to play a string of shots. In the 31st over, he landed a hefty blow down the ground off Taijul to clear the boundary rope. When Khaled banged it short again, Chari took on the challenge and smashed a well-timed pull to collect another six.
In the 37th over, he also took a heavy toll off Taijul by tonking the spinner for three fours in four balls. However, at the fag end of the session, he was dismissed by Mehidy. Initially, the appeal for a catch was turned down. Mahmudullah, after some deliberation, took the review. The UltraEdge suggested that it took the little finger on the top hand before the fielder grabbed the chance and the decision was overturned. Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza didn’t last long and at 131 for 5, the tourists found themselves in trouble. Taylor and Moor then gave the African nation renewed hope before Taijul and Mehidy ran through the batting order.
The wicket hasn’t yet crumbled and Zimbabwe still would have hopes of drawing the game. On the other hand, Bangladesh have the whole night to contemplate – whether they want to enforce the follow on or not.
