ZIM vs BAN: Taskin Ahmed opens up on face-off with Blessing Muzarabani,’ Asked him to do something with ball’ – Bangladesh lower-order batsman Taskin Ahmed who scored a maiden international half-century in one-off Test against Zimbabwe, engaged in a face-off with Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani during his 191 run partnership with Mahmudullah for the ninth wicket.
“Their fast bowlers were attacking me with bouncers, and trying to get me out. I think I was handling them well. Some of them were abusing me as well, but when they did it for the third time, I told him to do something with the ball rather than abusing me,” Taskin Ahmed told ESPN Cricinfo.
ZIM vs BAN: Taskin scored 75 runs in 135 balls which is his best score in international cricket. Taskin also expressed a desire to be a good tail-ender.
“I have always wanted to be a good tail-ender. I practise batting besides my bowling. I want to improve my batting so that it can come in handy in difficult situations. All big teams have responsible tail-enders who support the set batsman at the other end,” he said.
ZIM vs BAN: Bangladesh started the day on 294 for eight, and were eventually bowled out for 468, before Zimbabwe went to the close on 114 for one, still 354 runs adrift on the first innings.
Takudzwanashe Kaitano (33 not out) and experienced right-handed batsman Brendan Taylor (37 not out) will resume on the third morning for the home side.
ZIM vs BAN: Mahmudullah and Taskin Ahmed had earlier put on the second-highest ninth-wicket stand in Test history.
When the latter missed a slog off Milton Shumba on 75, their stand ended on 191, four runs short of the 195 put on by South Africans Mark Boucher and Pat Symcox against Pakistan in 1995.
ZIM vs BAN: But it did break the Bangladesh record of 184 runs for the ninth wicket between Abul Hasan and Mahmudullah in 2012.
The latter reached his career-best score in Harare, finishing on an unbeaten 150 off 278 with 17 fours and a six. He took a bit of time trusting his partner at the other end early in the stand, but soon allowed the partnership to flourish.