Nazmul Hossain Shanto stood firm with a composed half-century as Bangladesh wrestled back control on a rain-hit third day of the Sylhet Test. At stumps on Tuesday, the hosts reached 194 for four in their second innings for leading Zimbabwe by 112 runs after overcoming an 82-run first-innings deficit.
Rain started in Sylhet from Monday night, which continued till Tuesday morning and wept out the entire first session of play.
Drizzle lingered since early hours and for a while it seemed the entire day might be washed out. But the rain relented by noon allowing play to begin at 1:00 pm (BST). Despite the time lost, Bangladesh made significant progress in the 44 overs possible before poor light forced an early end.
Resuming on 57 for one, with Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Mominul Haque at the crease, Bangladesh were still trailing by 25 runs.
Joy, who had battled through the second evening with 28 runs next to his name, was dismissed for 33 off 65 balls early in the session. Mominul then joined hands with Shanto to rebuild the innings with caution and class. The pair added 65 runs for the third wicket carefully negotiating Zimbabwe's disciplined bowling.
Just as Mominul looked set for another fifty to back up his first-innings effort, he fell for 47 remaining three runs short of the milestone. His dismissal at 138 triggered a brief setback and was soon followed by Mushfiqur Rahim's departure for just four runs, which is his fourth consecutive single-digit score in Tests and seventh straight failure in international cricket.
However, Shanto remained the backbone of the innings showing admirable patience and composure. The left-hander brought up his fifth Test fifty and ended the day unbeaten on 60 off 103 balls with seven boundaries. He was well supported by Zaker Ali, who played a solid hand of 21 not out off 60 balls helping Bangladesh stabilize with a 39-run unbroken stand.
Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani continued to trouble the Bangladesh batters finishing with figures of three for 51, while Victor Nyauchi took one wicket.
Earlier in the match, Bangladesh were bowled out for just 191 runs in the first innings ridding on the bat of Mominul (56) and Mominul (40). Muzarabani and Wellington Masakadza led the way with three wickets apiece, while Victor Nyauchi and Wesley Madhevere picked up two each.
Zimbabwe conversely, took control with a reply of 273 to secure an 82-run lead after Brian Bennett's 57, 59 runs came from the bat of Sean Williams followed by good contributions from Nyasha Mayavo (35), Richard Ngarava (28) and Mujarabani (17). Mehidy Hasan Miraz hauled five wickets for 52 runs and speedster Nahid Rana impressed with three wickets.
