Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan converted Bangladesh’s crawl yesterday into a position of strength with centuries on day two versus Zimbabwe in Khulna.
Tamim, who made his name as an attacking batsman but has become steadier in recent years, yesterday faced 250 balls for his unbeaten 74.
He turned that into 109 from 332 deliveries while Shakib was much more fluent in moving towards a 153-ball ton.
Shakib’s 137, including 18 fours and two sixes, helped the Tigers make good on Mushfiqur Rahmin’s decision to bat first by posting 433 all out on a trustworthy surface.
Shakib dominated a stand of 132 with Tamim and had eased to 89 when the opener fell shortly before lunch.
The middle-order man was sixth out with the score on 376. Aside from Taijul Islam’s 32, Zimbabwe then kept Bangladesh fairly quiet.
Taijul took the only wicket to fall, trapping Sikandar Raza in front, as the tourists replied with 53 in 19 overs before stumps. Brian Chari and Hamilton Masakadza remain in situ.
The Tigers lead the best-of-three series with a game to go after this one.