Skipper Brendan Taylor’s 92 helped Zimbabwe get to 140/3 in the second innings against Bangladesh at stumps on the fourth day of the one-off Test here on Saturday.
Zimbabwe still trail by 337 runs and unless they bat out the whole of the fifth day on Sunday, it looks likely that they will lose the Test.
The home team, chasing a target of 477 to win the Test, started off well. They were 110/1 with Taylor going after the bowling.
The 35-year-old right-handed batsman hit 16 boundaries in his 73-ball innings before he was dismissed about 11.4 overs before the end of play.
Takudzwanashe Kaitano, who had held one end up, scored just seven off 102 deliveries and was out just before close.
Earlier, unbeaten centuries from Shadman Islam (115 not out) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (117 not out) helped Bangladesh declare their second innings at 284/1.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 468 and 284/1 dec (S Islam 115 not out, NH Shanto 117 not out) vs Zimbabwe 276 and 140/3 (B Taylor 92).
Mahmudullah to retire
Senior Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmudullah has made a sudden decision to stop playing Test cricket, a day after recording a career-best 150 in the ongoing one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Harare.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, Mahmudullah informed his colleagues that he is not willing to continue his Test career anymore, leaving the team management shocked.
“Yes, he (Mahmudullah) had informed that he does not want to prolong his Test career after this game. But he did not inform us anything officially and we have to see whether it’s an emotional outburst or not,” the website quoted a top Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) as saying.
Mahmudullah has played 49 Tests with 2764 runs at an average of 31 plus and four half-centuries.