Left-handed openers Shadman Islam smashed his maiden ton in the one-off Harare Test against Zimbabwe on Saturday. Najmul Hossain Shanto also picked up his second Test hundred. Riding on their wonderful batting display, Bangladesh secured a lead of 476 runs. Read: Five-for in overseas Test will boost my confidence: Mehidy Zimbabwe will now have to score 477 to win this match in with a full one day and one session plus some overs remaining in this match.  Read: Breach of Code of Conduct: Taskin and Muzarabani fined Bangladesh declared their second innings on 284 for one in 67.4 overs, with Shadman and Shanto unbeaten on 115 and 117 respectively.  Read: Bangladesh secure huge first-innings lead after Mehidy bags five Shadman needed 180 balls to reach three-figure score in international cricket. He smashed eight fours along the way. While going to 100 from 85, Shanto hit two sixes and reached his hundred in 109 balls.  Bangladesh only lost the wicket of Saif Hasan before declaring on second innings. In the second-wicket stand, they added 196 runs, which is now the third-highest stand in the second wicket for Bangladesh in Tests. Earlier, Zimbabwe tumbled for 276 while replying to Bangladesh’s first innings total of 468, and Bangladesh secured a huge lead of 192 runs.  Mehidy Hasan Miraz bagged five wickets, and Shakib Al Hasan took four.  For Zimbabwe, the debutant Takudzwanashe Kaitano scored 87 which was the highest by any Zimbabwean batsman. Brendan Taylor also hit a fifty for the hosts.  Earlier, Mahmudullah Riyad scored an unbeaten 150 for Bangladesh while Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed and Mominul scored 95, 70 and 75 respectively to post a huge first-innings total despite losing two early wickets.

Despite losing two early wickets on day one of the Harare Test, Bangladesh passed the 400-run mark on day two riding on a hundred by Mahmudullah Riyad and a maiden fifty by Taskin Ahmed.  Mahmudullah, out of Test setup for more than 17 months, was called up at the last minute.  Read: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe 2021: Test Series Preview It was the fifth Test hundred for Mahmudullah. Before this match, he played a Test match back in 2020 against Pakistan. The right-handed allrounder grabbed the chance well. He and Taskin passed 150 runs in the ninth  wicket stand, which is now the highest ninth-wicket stand at the Harare Sports Club as well.  They surpassed 147 between Mohammad Wasim and Mushtaq Ahmed of Pakistan.  Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first. Saif Hassan and Najmul Hossain Shanto were dismissed early on day one.  Read: Bangladesh bat first in Harare Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque added 60 runs in the third wicket stand to recover from the early damage. But Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan fell quickly.  Mominul scored 70, and after him, Liton Das posted his Test total of 95 to keep the score afloat.  Bangladesh ended day one at 294 for eight. Two overnight batsmen— Mahmudullah and Taskin hold firm and kept scoring runs.  At the end of 114 overs, Bangladesh were batting at 420 for eight, with Mahmudullah and Taskin were unbeaten for 119 and 62 respectively.