Zimbabwe 4-158 (Elton Chigumbura 45*, Brendan Taylor 36, Robiul Islam 2-34) trails Bangladesh 391 (Shakib Al Hasan 81, Nasir Hossain 77, Mushfiqur Rahim 60, Elton Chigumbura 3-75) by 233 runs with six wickets in hand.
The visiting Bangladesh got a tight grip on the second Test by amassing commendable runs on board followed by grabbing four top wickets of the hosts Zimbabwe.
Bangladesh piled up 391 runs in their first innings and Zimbabwe was struggling at 4-158 in 62 overs.
The second day of the 2nd Test came to an end on Friday, April 26, 2013, at Harare Sports Club.
Earlier, Bangladesh commenced the day at 300 in 88 overs after losing six wickets, Nasir Hossain was holding his end for 37 and Ziaur Rahman was at the other side with 8. Both batsmen got off in an identical fashion by scoring six runs in each over and sending the ball once over the rope. Ziaur Rahman was declared leg before wicket off Keegan Meth for 14 after 13 runs were added in the day’s play. Sohag Gazi dropped in next as Nasir Hossain attained his fifth Test fifty in the 97th over. The run rate was dropped drastically while just another 13 runs were accumulated until the 99th over.
Sohag Gazi hit the first six of the day in the next over and the batsmen decided to go for the boundaries which were being witnessed almost in ever over. The 8th wicket fell at 364 when Sohag Gazi was caught by Elton Chigumbura off Graeme Cremer for 21. Nasir Hossain was clean bowled by Cremer three runs later for 77 off 103 balls with 11 fours and the entire Bangladesh team was sent back to the dressing room for 391 in 113.2 overs.
Elton Chigumbura was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, Keegan Meth and Graeme Cremer held two whereas Kyle Jarvis and Shingi Masakadza shared one wicket each.
Vusi Sibanda and Regis Chakabva started off watchfully and scored 21 runs in the first 10 overs with just one boundary. Chakabva was caught behind by the Bangladesh skipper, Mushfiqur Rahim off Robiul Islam for 12 and Sibanda lost his wicket in the same manner for 10. Hamilton Masakadza and his captain Brendan Taylor got together as the first hit 1 six and 1 four in the 16th over. Taylor remained defensive at his end and scored just 3 runs off the 27 balls he faced as the stumps of Masakadza were uprooted by Shakib Al Hasan at 45 after he had scored 14 runs.
Malcolm Waller joined in next with Taylor who hit his first four on the 41st delivery as the series of maiden overs were bowled by the Bengal Tigers bowlers. The home batsmen found it hard to score the runs and they reached 67 after 37 overs as the due got a few boundaries in the coming overs. The score was enhanced to 97 in 45.1 overs when the batsman in form, Brendan Taylor was dismissed for 36 off 104 with 4 fours. The seasoned Elton Chigumbura was the next batsman in who preferred to attack and Waller started following him as well. Chigumbura got 2 fours in the 53rd over as the total went past the 150 runs mark in the 60th over. Zimbabwe managed 158 runs after utilising 62 overs for the loss of four wickets whereas Elton Chigumbura and Malcolm Waller secured their end with 45 and 30 respectively.
Robiul Islam was the most effective bowler with two wickets whereas Shakib Al Hasan and Sohag Gazi claimed one each.
Zimbabwe still trails by 233 runs in their first innings and will anticipate that the two batsmen at the crease will take them out of danger but a couple of early wickets by the Bangladeshi bowlers can put them on top.
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