The first day of Test cricket at the picturesque venue that has hosted limited-overs cricket before, welcomed two sides with gentle weather conditions and a pitch that left no hesitation in Masakadza's mind while opting to bat first. Yet, Abu Jayed - the Sylhet-born speedster, found some amount of swing to trouble the Zimbabwean skipper and his opening partner Brain Chari early on.
He even created the first real opportunity for a wicket on an otherwise placid surface, with an away swinger that squared up Chari and convinced Bangladesh to use up one of their reviews. Replays, though, showed that there was a clear outside edge. Jayed probed but wasn't able to breakthrough as the batting pair appeared to get comfortable.
Mahmudullah relied on left-arm spinner Taijul Islam to make an incision. Taijul mixed up his stock deliveries that turned away from the right-handers by sneaking in flatter, quicker arm balls frequently - one of which brought the first breakthrough. Chari attempted a slog sweep, but didn't get his bat anywhere close to the ball that went on to disturb his middle-stump.
In the company of another senior pro in Brendan Taylor, the agenda for Masakadza and Zimbabwe was straightforward: a innings-fortifying partnership. But that was not to be, thanks to Nazmul Hossain Shanto's excellent reflexes at forward short leg. Another arm ball from Taijul did [half] the trick as Taylor lunged forward to defend the ball and ended up edging it towards the close-in catcher.
Nazmul did commendably well to reach low for the catch and complete it a few inches above the ground. The umpires needed a bit of confirmation from their TV colleague on the nature of the catch, which was made very clear via replays.
With Sean Williams for company, Masakadza began Zimbabwe's second attempt at a rebuild already, scoring his eighth Test fifty before the first big interval.
Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 85/2 (Hamilton Masakadza 52*; Taijul Islam 2-43) vs Bangladesh
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