Bangladesh’s Taijul Islam breaks Mitchell Starc’s record, enters all-time…

Taijul Islam and Mitchell Starc (Image credit: Agencies) NEW DELHI: Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam achieved a major personal milestone despite his team’s heavy defeat to Zimbabwe in the one-off Test in Harare.The left-arm spinner claimed 7 for 138 in 40.2 overs in Zimbabwe’s first innings to register the 19th five-wicket haul of his Test career. The performance helped him move into the top five left-arm bowlers with the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket.

Taijul equals Shakib, moves around Starc

Taijul’s latest 5-for saw him draw level with former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan, with both bowlers now having 19 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket.He also moved ahead of Australia’s Mitchell Starc, who has 18 five-wicket hauls.The Bangladesh spinner reached the milestone in just 107 Test innings, making him faster than both Shakib and Starc. Shakib took 121 innings to reach 19 five-fors, while Starc needed 202 innings to register his 18th.

There are only three left-handed bowlers up front

Sri Lankan great Rangana Herath remains clear at the top of the list with 34 five-wicket hauls in 93 Tests along with 433 wickets.Former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram is second with 25 five-fors and 414 wickets, while New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori is third with 20 five-fors and 362 wickets.Taijul and Shakib now share the fourth spot with 19 five-fors. Mitchell Starc slipped to sixth on 18, followed by England’s Derek Underwood (17) and India’s Ravindra Jadeja (15).Taijul has now taken 270 wickets in 60 Tests, underscoring his importance to the Bangladesh bowling attack.

Zimbabwe recorded their biggest Test win

While Taijul shone with the ball, Zimbabwe dominated the match and registered the biggest Test win in their history, defeating Bangladesh by an innings and 85 runs at the Harare Sports Club.After winning the toss and electing to bowl, the Zimbabwean pacers tore through Bangladesh’s batting line-up and dismissed the visitors for just 140 in the first innings.Mominul Haque was the only batsman to put up any resistance with 60 runs off 81 balls.Newman Nyamhuri played the ball by taking four wickets while captain Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans took two wickets each.

Zimbabwe are piling on the run

Zimbabwe then responded by commanding 410 in their first innings to take a huge lead of 270 runs.Innocent Kaia led the way with a brilliant 140 while Craig Ervine, Brian Bennett and Wessly Madhevere all scored half-centuries.Despite Taijul’s seven-wicket haul, Bangladesh struggled to stop the hosts from setting up a match-winning aggregate.

Bangladesh collapsed again

Needing a huge effort to avoid defeat, Bangladesh were bowled out for 185 in their second innings.Zimbabwe’s pace attack once again shared the wickets with Ngarava, Muzarabani, Evans and Nyamhuri all contributing significantly as none of them went wicketless in an innings.

A historic moment for Zimbabwe

The win was Zimbabwe’s biggest ever in Test cricket, surpassing all their previous wins.It was also the first time in over 25 years that Zimbabwe had won back-to-back Test matches.Their previous Test win came against Afghanistan in October when they won by an innings and 73 runs.