Das, Mahmudullah save Bangladesh the blushes

Harare, July 7 (IANS) Liton Das's 95 and his unbeaten 138-run partnership with Mahmudullah Riyad (54) helped Bangladesh end the first day of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at 294 for eight wickets at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.Bangladesh, who had won the toss and elected to bat, were in a spot of bother when they were reduced to 132 for six wickets. Mominul Haque (70 off 92 balls) was the sixth man dismissed. He was going after the bowling even as wickets fell around him. However, Das and Mahmudullah -- who surprisingly pushed down to No. 8 in the batting order -- took the team to safety. Das fell with the score on 270. Blessing Muzarabani was the most successful bowler with 3/48. "We have had some conversations during the week. He (Das) shared that sometimes he gives his wicket away in the 30s and 40s due to lack of concentration. I told him if he can bat for more than three hours, forgetting about the score which he is on, he'd be close to a hundred. I would like to see how many hours he batted today," said Bangladesh batting consultant Ashwell Prince. Brief scores: Bangladesh 294/8 in 83 overs (L Das 95, M Haque 70, Mahmudullah 54 batting; B Muzarabani 3/48, D Tiripano 2/36, V Nyauchi 2/69) vs Zimbabwe.
--IANS kh/