Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Seamers, Kaia lead Zimbabwe to their biggest Test win

Blessing Muzarabani struck twice on the third morning Zimbabwe Cricket

Zimbabwe 410 (Kaia 140, Madhevere 77*, Taijul 7-138) beat Bangladesh 140 (Mominul 60, Nyamhuri 4-61, Ngarava 2-18) and 185 (Mushfiqur 34, Muzarabani 4-65, Ngarava 3-32) by an innings and 85 runs

Zimbabwe registered their biggest win in Test cricket as they thrashed Bangladesh by an innings and 85 runs on the third afternoon in the one-off Test in Harare.

After conceding a first-innings lead of 270, Bangladesh collapsed once again and were all out for 185 in the second innings, with Blessing Muzarabani picking up 4 for 65. It was the first time that Zimbabwe won two successive Tests by an innings margin. In their previous Test, in October 2025, they had beaten Afghanistan by an innings and 73 runs at this very venue. That was also their biggest win at the time.

Bangladesh started the day on 40 for 1, but were soon reduced to 46 for 3, as Muzarabani dismissed the overnight batters, Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Mominul Haque, inside the first four overs of the day. Bowling predominantly short of good length, he kept the duo on the back foot before snaring them with fuller deliveries.

Joy was deep in his crease to a length ball that bounced extra, took the shoulder of the bat, and went into the hands of the gully fielder. Mominul looked to drive at a full ball from around the wicket, but ended up playing away from the body. Brad Evans dived to his left at third slip, almost parallel to the ground, and held the catch with both hands.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim resisted briefly, using contrasting methods. Shanto was aggressive, and didn't miss out on the opportunities to pull and drive. Mushfiqur was defensive, often leaving the ball and even taking a couple of blows to the body.

They took Bangladesh past 100 before Newman Nyamhuri bowled Shanto to break the 61-run stand. It was an attempted yorker that ended up as a low full toss. Shanto went for the drive but got an inside edge onto his stumps. He made 30 off 41 balls.

Mushfiqur didn't last long after that. A couple of minutes before lunch, Muzarabani had him caught down the leg side for 34 with an innocuous delivery. Muzarabani had his fourth soon after the lunch break when Towhid Hridoy edged a length ball to third slip. He should have had his fifth too in the following over, but Brian Bennett, at gully, put down a sharp chance from Taijul Islam.

Amite Hasan and Taijul frustrated Zimbabwe for a while, adding 34 off 44 balls for the seventh wicket, before Evans had Taijul caught behind with a short ball down the leg side.

Richard Ngarava hastened the end by picking up two wickets in the next over. Muzarabani, however, could not complete his five-for. Ironically, he was the catcher for the tenth wicket. When Hasan Mahmud miscued a pull off Nyamhuri, Muzarabani ran backwards from mid-on to complete the catch.

Just like in the first innings, Zimbabwe's seamers shared all ten wickets. It was only the second occasion in their Test history that all 20 wickets were taken by fast bowlers. The first one was in 1993, in a losing cause against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.

Innocent Kaia, who scored his maiden Test hundred and matched Bangladesh's first-innings total on his own with 140, was named the Player of the Match.

Bangladesh 3rd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st22Shadman IslamMahmudul Hasan Joy
2nd19Mominul HaqueMahmudul Hasan Joy
3rd5Mominul HaqueNajmul Hossain Shanto
4th61Mushfiqur RahimNajmul Hossain Shanto
5th10Mushfiqur RahimTowhid Hridoy
6th7Towhid HridoyAmite Hasan
7th34Taijul IslamAmite Hasan
8th4Hasan MahmudAmite Hasan
9th0Hasan MahmudKhaled Ahmed
10th23Hasan MahmudEbadot Hossain