Captain fantastic!

Sport
Stand-in captain Craig Ervine (pictured) made a piece of history for himself after he struck a defiant century on the first day of the one-off cricket Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka yesterday to become the second Zimbabwean player to reach the milestone in his first match as skipper.

BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE

Stand-in captain Craig Ervine (pictured) made a piece of history for himself after he struck a defiant century on the first day of the one-off cricket Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka yesterday to become the second Zimbabwean player to reach the milestone in his first match as skipper.

Legendary Zimbabwe cricketer Dave Houghton managed 121 runs as captain in the country’s first Test match against India in 1992.

Ervine’s 107 knock was the mainstay of Zimbabwe’s innings as the team posted a decent 228 for 6 after batting throughout the first day.

It was Ervine’s third hundred in his 18th Test match The 34-year-old batsman was given the captain’s responsibilities in the absence of Sean Williams, who chose to stay at home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

Zimbabwe, looking to bounce back from an agonising 1-0 series defeat at home to Sri Lanka, played a patient game after winning the toss and electing to bat first.

After losing opener Kevin Kasuza for two with seven runs on the board, Ervine joined Prince Masvaure on the crease to steady the ship for the visitors in the eighth over.

The two went on to share a 111-run stand before Masvaure fell to teenage spinner Nayeem Hasan, caught and bowled.

But the in-form Zimbabwe opener had already reached a half century, his second in five matches, finishing with 64 runs to his credit.

Former captain Brendan Taylor did not last long after he was clean-bowled by Hasan for 10.

Sikandar Raza (18) and Timycen Maruma (7), who replaced Williams in the squad, went in quick succession leaving Zimbabwe on 199 for 5.

Moments later Ervine, who had a shaky start to his innings, reached his ton after whipping one off the pads for two, off the bowling of Ebadat Hossain in the 86th over.

And with less than five overs remaining, it was expected that Ervine and Chakabva would bat to stumps, but Hasan had other ideas.

The 19-year-old bowled Ervine moments before the close of play to finish with best figures 4 for 68 among the Bangladesh bowlers.

Fast bowler Abu Jayed grabbed the other two wickets for the hosts to leave the match in the balance.

Chikabva and nightwatchman Donald Tiripano will resume Zimbabwe’s innings this morning looking to go beyond the 300-run mark in a bid to take the initiative in the match.

And with a tail that includes Victor Nyauchi, Ainsley Ndlovu and debutant Charlton Tshuma, Zimbabwe may not add much to the scoreboard today.

Zimbabwe are looking for their first Test victory since they beat Bangladesh by 151 runs in Sylhet in November 2018.

Lalchand Rajput will also play three ODIs and two T20 matches in their tour of Bangladesh which will conclude on March 11.