Sylhet Test: Mominul, Shanto shine on rain-hit Day 3
What's the story
The ongoing opening Test between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Sylhet is evenly poised.
Day 3 of the contest was significantly impacted by rain and bad light.
Zimbabwe made a huge impact by taking three wickets on the day with Blessing Muzarabani leading the charge.
Najmul Hossain Shanto's unbeaten 60* meant Bangladesh finished Day 3 at 194/4, leading by 112 runs.
The hosts had resumed the day at 57/1.
Bowling brilliance
Muzarabani's early strike dents the hosts
Zimbabwe pacer Muzarabani was the star of the day, returning with impressive figures of 3/51.
He struck early on Day 3, dismissing Mahmudul Hasan Joy in just his seventh over with a short-pitched delivery.
Joy could only add five runs to his overnight score before being dismissed for a total of 33 runs.
Muzarabani later trapped Mushfiqur Rahim (4) as well.
Partnership
Vital knocks from Mominul and Shanto
Mominul Haque was joined by captain Najmul Hossain Shanto after Joy's departure as the duo looked to take their team home.
They added 65 runs before Mominul departed for 47. Victor Nyauchi was his nemesis.
He had scored 56 runs in the first innings.
Shanto ended Day 3 unbeaten on 60* off 103 balls, as Bangladesh took their lead to 112 runs with six wickets remaining.
Notably, the entire opening session on Day 3 was abandoned due to wet outfield.
Muzarabani
100 FC wickets for Muzarabani
Muzarabani, who drew the first blood for Zimbabwe in the final session of Day 2, dismissed two more batters on the third day.
He returned with 3/51 from 15 overs.
As he also took three wickets in Bangladesh's first innings, the pacer has now taken his tally to 100 First-Class wickets across 30 games at a fine average of around 23, as per ESPNcricinfo.
47 of his wickets have come in Test matches at 22-plus (5W: 2).
Information
How did the other bowlers fare?
Victor Nyauchi, who was the only other wicket-taker on the day, ended up with 1/28 from 13 overs. Richard Ngarava went wicketless (0/33) in his 13-over spell. Spinners Wessly Madhevere and Wellington Masakadza bowled eight overs each but could not inflict any damage.
Mominul
Mominul joins these names
Mominul, who made 56 in the first innings, managed 47 off 84 balls in his latest outing.
Playing his 70th Test, Mominul has raced past 4,500 (now 4,515) runs at an average of 37.31.
Besides his 22 fifties, he also owns 13 tons. He joined Mushfiqur Rahim (6,015), Tamim Iqbal (5,134), and Shakib Al Hasan (4,609) in terms of players with 4,500-plus runs for Bangladesh.