A resilient knock of 64 by Mushfiqur Rahim gave some respectability to Bangladesh’s innings as they were all out for 188 in their first inning against Zimbabwe Board XI in Harare on Saturday.
Mushfique’s knock came after a familiar top-order batting collapse saw Bangladesh reeling at 35 for five after skipper Sakib al Hasan won the toss and elected to bat.
Bangladesh took the field in less than a day after a 42-hour journey and soon found themselves under knife as they lost both their openers with just eight runs on the board.
Imrul Kayes was bowled by Keegan Meth for eight while Junaed Siddique, in for injured opener Tamim Iqbal, failed to trouble the scorers as he was caught behind by Taibu off the bowling of Kyle Jarvis.
Wickets continued to tumble as Mohammad Ashraful was dismissed for a duck by Jarvis followed by Shahriar Nafees, who managed to score 10 runs before edging a Tendai Chatara delivery to wicketkeeper Taibu.
Skipper Sakib al Hasan did not last long either as he made his way back to the pavilion for a duck to set the backdrop for Mushfique to revive the innings along with all-rounder Mahmudullah.
But just as a partnership was threatening to develop between the two, Mahmudullah was bowled by Ncube for 21 with the score at 67 for six.
This brought newcomer Nasir Hossain to the crease, who along with the diminutive Mushfique, managed to bring stability to an otherwise faltering innings with a seventh-wicket stand of 72.
With Mushfique holding firm at one end, Nasir kept the scoreboard
ticking and did his chances for Test selection no harm with an innings of 38 which included four boundaries.
The partnership was broken just after Mushfique had reached his half-century when Nasir was caught by Craig Ervine off the bowling of Zimbabwe Board XI skipper Prosper Utseya.
Mushfique added another 28 runs with Abdur Razzak before succumbing to the bowling of Ncube for 64 from 143 balls including eight boundaries.
Zimbabwe Board XI were 42-4 when this report was filed with pacemen Shafiul Islam taking two wickets while Robiul Islam had one wicket to his name.
The other wicket that had fallen was a run out.
Shafiul had opener Sikandar Raza bowled for five before Robiul dismissed Regis Chakabva for a duck.
Former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu was run out for eight by a throw from Nazmul Hossain before Shafiul took the wicket of Tino Mawoyo, who made 17.
-With New Age input
