Sakib al Hasan took himself to a new height after grabbing 10 wickets in a match in addition to his century, leading Bangladesh to a pulsating 162-run win over Zimbabwe in the second Test at Khulna on Friday. The win helped Bangladesh to warp-up the three-match Test series with an unassailable 2-0 lead, making the third Test in Chittagong, beginning on Wednesday, a mere formality.This was only the third Test series win for Bangladesh in 44 attempts and second at home which also took them ahead of Zimbabwe in the Test rankings for the first time since 2011.
Sakib was the chief architect once again, taking 5-44 and 5-80 in two innings along with his 137 in the first innings, which took him into a select group of all-rounders.
England’s Ian Botham and Pakistan’s Imran Khan were the only two other cricketers to score a century and snap 10 wickets in a single Test match before Sakib.
Australia’s Alan Davidson also took 11 wickets in a match and scored more than 100 runs, but his runs came in two innings, which denied Davidson a place alongside Botham, Imran and Sakib.
Thanks to Sakib’s exploit, Bangladesh dismissed Zimbabwe for 151 runs in the second innings with more than an hour of play left on the fifth and final day.
The Tigers never had any kind of doubt about their win after they declared their second innings on 248-9 an hour and 18 minutes into the fifth day to set up a 314-run target for Zimbabwe in 68 overs.
Bangladesh began with two spinners for the first time in their history and reaped a rich reward as Sakib and Tajiul Islam left Zimbabwe tottering at 13-2 at lunch.
On resumption, man-of-the-match Sakib handed a duck to Brendan Taylor, arguably Zimbabwe best player against spin, putting Bangladesh on course to a crushing victory.
Hamilton Masakadza, who scored 158 runs in the first innings, however, decided to give them a headache after launching a counter attack with his fellow first innings centurion Regis Chakabva.
Leg-spinner Jubair Hossain made his presence felt removing Chakabva to bring the crucial breakthrough, though Zimbabwe looked determined not to give up without any fight.
Jubair struck again to dismiss Craig Ervine, who made 21 off 22 balls, leaving Zimbabwe at 117-5, with Masakadza still at the crease.
Zimbabwe finally collapsed after Sakib got rid of Masakadza for 61 runs, fifth over into the tea break as they lost their last five wickets for only 14 runs.
Sakib had Natsai M’shangwe caught by Mushfiqur Rahim for a duck to complete his maiden 10-wicket haul in the match, making him only the second Bangladeshi bowler to do so after Enamul Haque Jr.
Unused fast bowler Shahadat Hossain dropped last batsman Tendai Chatara off Sakib at mid-on but it was not going spoil the party for Bangladesh, who had enough time to complete the job.
Taijul finally sealed the win, trapping Tendai Chatara leg-before to finish with 3-44.
The Tigers dedicated the win to late Manzarul Islam Rana, who died in a road accident in 2007.
-With New Age input
