Live Cricket Score - Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, 1st Test, Day 1

Stumps! - Zimbabwe 236/5

Bangladesh spin troika of Taijul Islam, Nazmul Islam and Mahmudullah regularly pulled the strings on Day 1 in Sylhet, but batting defiance from Hamilton Masakadza (52) and Sean Williams (88) ensured there would be parity at stumps.

Bangladesh take the new ball. Zimbabwe 204 for 5 ...

Captain strikes!

What a wicket! Sean Williams has been sent on his way 12 short of a 100! A tossed up delivery with a bit of drift on it forced Williams forward. The extra bit of bounce and sharp turn did him in, though, taking an outside edge to Mehidy Hasan at first slip.

FIFTY for Sean Williams

The left-hander gets to his half-century, and is now playing the role that Hamilton Masakadza played in the first session. Peter Moor has been just about adequate on the pitch, playing out 39 balls for his unbeaten 3 so far.

Nazmul Islam has a debut wicket...

And his version of the naagin dance is out! A flat delivery that held its line was completely misread by Sikandar Raza, who played for the turn. The ball struck him on the pads and sneaked through to hit the stumps. And with that, the brief recovery has come to another halt.

BIG BREAKTHROUGH

Massive, massive breakthrough for Bangladesh, courtesy Abu Jayed. The right-armer got the ball to reverse and hit the Masakadza's front pad when he attempted to flick the ball away. After a bit of discussion with Sean Williams, the Zimbabwe skipper walked away without taking a review. Wise choice, since the on-field decision would've been upheld.

LUNCH - Zimbabwe 85 for 2

Hamilton Masakadza's half-century holds Zimbabwe together after Taijul Islam struck twice and removed even the experienced Brendan Taylor.

TAKEN!

Superb catch by Nazmul Hasan Shanto at forward short leg to send Brendan Taylor back cheaply! The umpires had to go upstairs to check the legality of the catch, but replays showcased Nazmul's exceptional reaction time and technique to pluck it just above the ground.

WICKET

Brian Chari departs! An ambitious and totally unnecessary across-the-line swipe at a straighter, flatter delivery is now his undoing. He got nowhere close to the ball while attempting the slog sweep, and had his middle-stump disturbed. Taijul Islam gives Bangladesh their first breakthrough.

Unsuccessful review!

Appreciable amount of swing for Abu Jayed - the only fast bowler in the Bangladesh line-up. He squares up Brian Chari and goes for a loud appeal. It looked close, and that prompted a review, but there was a clear outside edge, as seen on the snicko.

Zimbabwe opt to bat first!
Bangladesh XI: Liton Das, Imrul Kayes, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah(c), Ariful Haque, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam, Nazmul Islam, Abu Jayed
Zimbabwe XI: Hamilton Masakadza(c), Brian Chari, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Peter Moor, Regis Chakabva(w), Brandon Mavuta, Wellington Masakadza, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara

What's the match-up like?

The two teams have played 14 Tests against each other - the first in 2001 and the last in 2014. Bangladesh have won five - four of which have come in succession since April 2013. Zimbabwe's glory days against the Asian side was in the early 2000s when Heath Streak led a very strong side.

Interview time!

As we await the toss in Sylhet, here's a fascinating interview with Ali Khan, a Bangladesh-born Canadian sports psychologist, who recently conducted a week-long session with the Bangladesh cricketers.

Test debut beckons!

Zimbabwe aren't exactly the most glamorous opponent to face in a venue's Test debut, but the folks in Sylhet will take it gleefully. No more travels down south of Bangladesh to one of the other Test centres - the game in whites has now arrived at their home.

As far as motivation ahead of a game and series like this goes, there's aplenty. For starters, these are the bottom two ranked sides in the top 10 and are coming away from string of defeats in the longest format. Bangladesh have still been a formidable force at home and would love to take the chance to repair their form guide against a much-inferior Test outfit in Zimbabwe.

For Zimbabwe, it is all about opportunities. They don't play enough Test cricket anymore, so any assignment has more weightage that it previously would have. Hamilton Masakadza echoed the same thoughts: "We would like to play a lot more Test cricket but we don't, so it is easier to motivate the guys. It is easy to just tell them to go out there and put everything. We don't get these opportunities often. We have to take this opportunity with both hands, and just go and play our best cricket. We have a long break before our next Test series so it is even more motivation to put in as much as possible now, to take this opportunity."

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