Skipper Tatenda Taibu stood firm with an unbeaten 49 to lead Zimbabwe to 244 for six at the close on the opening day of the second and final Test against Bangladesh at Dhaka on Friday.
Bangladesh, who ended a long wait for a first Test victory by crushing Zimbabwe by 226 runs in the opening Test, had moved into a strong position at tea before Taibu and Elton Chigumbura, who hit 34, shared a stand of 50.
Spinner Enamul Haque junior, who won the man-of-the-match award in Chittagong by taking six for 45 in the second innings, again led the way as Zimbabwe slumped from 88 for one at lunch to 172 for five.
The 18-year-old took four of the six wickets to fall and ended the day with figures of 4-74.
Zimbabwe, making their way back in Test cricket after having their status suspended last year, looked well set after the first session, with Stuart Matsikenyeri, who was dropped on five, on the brink of a half-century.
He reached that mark shortly afterwards but was then bowled for 51 by Haque to spark a mini-collapse as three wickets fell for 15 runs.
The spinner, playing in his fifth Test, trapped Dion Ebrahim leg before wicket for 12 and Brendan Taylor fell in the same way after making two.
Taibu added 60 for the fifth wicket with Hamilton Masakadza while Chigumbura clubbed three boundaries and two sixes before cutting to point where he was caught by Mohammad Ashraful to give Tapash Baisya his second wicket.
Scoreboard:
Zimbabwe first innings
S.Matsikenyeri b Enamul Haque jnr 51
B.Rogers b Enamul Haque jnr 29
D.Ebrahim lbw b Enamul Haque jnr 12
H.Masakadza c Aftab Ahmed b Tapash Baisya 43
B.Taylor lbw b Enamul Haque jnr 2
T.Taibu not out 49
E.Chigumbura c Mohammad Ashraful b Tapash Baisya 34
T.Panyangara not out 14
Extras (lb-5 b-4 nb-1) 10
Total (for six wickets, 93 overs) 244
Fall of wickets: 1-65 2-96 3-107 4-111 5-171 6-221
To bat: D.Hondo, C.Mpofu, G.Cremer
Bowling: Tapash Baisya 18-7-52-2, Mashrafe Mortaza 17-4-61-0, Mohammad Rafique 32-13-48-0, Enamul Haque jnr 26-7-74-4 (nb-1)
Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (captain), Khaled Mashud, Rajin Saleh, Nafis Iqbal, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tapash Baisya, Enamul Haque jnr.
