ZIM vs BAN: Mahmudullah and Taskin Ahmed join forces to put on the second-highest ninth-wicket stand in Test history
On the back of Mahmudullah's career-best Test knock, Bangladesh reached a decent total of 468 before getting all-out in the first innings of the Test against Zimbabwe in Harare.
When Mehidy Hasan departed at 270/8, it looked like the visitors would finish their innings before getting to 300. But middle-order batsmen Mahmudullah (150*) and tailender Taskin Ahmed's (75) rear-guard effort put Bangladesh in a strong position at the end of the first innings.
After skipper Mominul Haque won the toss and elected to bat first, Blessing Muzarabani (4/94) gave Zimbabwe a good start by dismissing Saif Hassan (0) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (2) inside the first five overs.
Mominul Haque (70 in 92 balls) played an aggressive knock to put the pressure back onto the home side. Later, Liton Das (95) played a composed innings in the middle order but missed out on a well-deserved century by falling short by five runs.
Mahmudullah then joined forces with tailender Taskin Ahmed and took Bangladesh to a huge total in the first innings. Both players scored their career-best Test knocks en route to a match-defining partnership.
The duo put up 191 runs together for the ninth wicket, the second-best partnership for the penultimate wicket in Test cricket history. Mark Boucher and Pat Symcox hold the pole position on this list. The South African pair put on 195 runs for the ninth wicket against Pakistan in Johannesburg back in 1998.
Milton Shumba (1/64) dismissed Taskin Ahmed in the 124th over and stalled Bangladesh's progress. Muzarabani soon dismissed Ebadot Hossain for a duck and drew curtains on the visitors' first innings at 468.
Zimbabwe skipper Brendon Taylor leads his team's fightback
In reply, Zimbabwe openers Milton Shumba (41) and Takudzwanashe Kaitano (33*) gave their side a good start by stitching a 61-run opening partnership. They also successfully negated the threat of the new ball.
Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan provided the first breakthrough for the visitors by scalping the wicket of Milton Shumba in the 28th over.
Brendan Taylor (37*) and Kaitano (33*) remained unbeaten at stumps on Day 2 of the Test. With a score of 114/1 on the board, Zimbabwe still trail by 354 runs. The team management will be hoping for a big knock from their talismanic skipper on Day 3 of the Test.