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Mahmudullah Retires With Man Of The Match Performance As Bangladesh Blow Zimbabwe Away In Harare

Mahmudullah retires with Man of the Match performance as Bangladesh blow Zimbabwe away in Harare

Four wicket hauls each for Mehidy Hasan Miraj and Taskin Ahmed blew Zimbabwe away on the final day and Bangladesh registered a big win of 220 runs in the only Test between the sides Harare.

The match turned out to be a special one for Mahmudullah who shockingly announced his retirement from the format in the middle of the match and he was adjudged Man of the match for his splendid performance with the bat in the first innings. He had remained not out and powered Bangladesh to a big first-innings score.

Chasing a mammoth total of 477 runs was never on cards for the Brendan Taylor-led Zimbabwe side and Bangladesh bowlers incisive enough to cut short their ambitions every now and then. Taylor tried to change the momentum of the game towards his side but the cushion of a lot of runs meant that Bangladesh could afford to wait for him to commit a mistake.

It was a complete performance from Bangladesh as both the batting and bowling unit upped their game in the hours of desperation. The side had found themselves in trouble on the first day with six wickets gone for just 132 runs on the board but Mahmudullah and Liton Das stitched a valuable 138 run partnership to put them in a commanding position.

In the bowling department as well, they were found wanting initially as Zimbabwean top-order batsmen Milton Shumba, Takudzwanashe Kaitano and skipper Taylor held their positions strongly. They were once at more than 200 runs with the loss of just two wickets before things started to unravel. From 225/2, Zimbabwe floundered to 276 all out and allowing Bangladesh to set the proceedings of the game with a big lead of 192 runs.

The matter went from bad to worse for Zimbabwe as Bangladesh top order turned things around in the second innings on the back of strong centuries from Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto. They along with Saif Hassan denied Zimbabwe any breathing space to get back in the game and put them on the brink with sublime batting.

The win in Harare would have come as welcome relief to Bangladesh team management including skipper Mominul Haque after the disastrous series loss against West Indies at home earlier this year. On the other hand, the loss will further strengthen the realities around Zimbabwe’s decline on the world stage.

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Mitchell Marsh doesn't want to get into 'headlines', says all not lost for Australia in T20 series

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Kent XI player tests positive for COVID-19, whole team put into self-isolation for 10 days

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Brad Hogg picks his India playing XI for T20 World Cup

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