Taijul Islam excelled with bat and ball as Bangladesh scored a tense three-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first Test in Dhaka on Monday.
The 22-year-old left-arm spinner became the first Bangladesh bowler to claim eight wickets in an innings, his figures of 8-39 helping to skittle Zimbabwe for 114 in the second innings.
Set a modest target of 101, Bangladesh slipped to 0 for 3 before Taijul, coming in at 82-7, guided the team home with an unbeaten 15 amid mounting tension on the third day at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
Taijul, who put on an unbroken stand of 19 with skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (23 not out), was named man of the match in only his third Test appearance.
It was Bangladesh's fifth Test win in 86 matches and only the second at home after the 226-run win against the same opponents in Chittagong in 2005.
The two lowest-ranked teams in Test cricket – Zimbabwe at number nine and Bangladesh at 10 -- will resume battle when the second Test opens in Khulna on November 3.
Taijul eclipsed team-mate Shakib Al Hasan's Bangladeshi record of 7-36 against New Zealand at Chittagong in 2008 as he spun out the Zimbabwe batsmen after the tourists resumed at 5-0.
Skipper Brendan Taylor was the only Zimbabwean to resist Taijul and the other bowlers, making an unbeaten 45, as six batsmen failed to reach double figures.
Shahadat Hossain and Shakib shared the other two wickets.
Elton Chigumbura claimed four for 21 as Bangladesh almost messed up what should have been a simple chase even on the deteriorating pitch.
Having lost the top three batsmen without a run on the board, the hosts buckled under pressure before Rahim and Taijul bailed them out.
Zimbabwe's tour of the South Asian nation features three Tests and five one-day internationals.
Scorecard
Zimbabwe (1st innings): 240 (Sikandar Raza 51; Shakib Al Hasan 6-59)
Bangladesh (1st innings): 254 (Mominul Haque 53, M. Mahmudullah 63, Mushfiqur Rahim 64; T. Panyangara 5-59)
Zimbabwe (2nd innings):
V. Sibanda c Rahim b Taijul 14
R. Chakabva c Shamsur b Taijul 10
H. Masakadza b Shahadat 5
S. Raza c Shakib b Taijul 25
B. Taylor not out 45
E. Chigumbura c Shuvagata b Taijul 0
C. Ervine lbw b Taijul 10
J. Nyumbu c Rahim b Shakib 1
T. Panyangara c Shamsur b Taijul 0
T. Chatara lbw b Taijul 4
T. Kamungozi c Rahim b Taijul 0
Extras: 0
Total: (all out; 35.5 overs) 114
Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Sibanda), 2-24 (Masakadza), 3-53(Raza), 4-58 (Chakabva), 5-58 (Chigumbura), 6-92 (Ervine), 7-93 (Nyumbu), 8-104 (Panyangara), 9-114 ( Chatara), 10-114 (Kamungozi)
Bowling: Shahadat 8-2-25-1, Shakib 10-2-44-1, Taijul 16.5-7-39-8, Jubair 1-0-6-0.
Bangladesh (2nd innings):
Tamim Iqbal c Taylor b Chigumbura 0
Shamsur Rahman b Panyangara 0
Mominul Haque c and b Chigumbura 0
M. Mahmudullah b Chigumbura 28
Shakib Al Hasan c Nyumbu b Chatara 15
Mushfiqur Rahim not out 23
Shuvagata Hom c Chakabva b Chigumbura 0
Shahadat Hossain c Taylor b Panyangara 11
Taijul Islam not out 15
Extras: (b4, w5) 9
Total: (for seven wickets; 33.3 overs) 101
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 0-3, 4-46, 5-62, 6-62, 7-82.
Bowling: Chigumbura 10.3-4-21-4, Panyangara 8-2-30-2, Chatara 8-2-34-1 (w5), Kamungozi 5-1-7-0, Raza 1-0-1-0, Nyumbu 1-0-4-0.
Image: Bangladesh players celebrate a wicket
Photo: Julian Herbert/Getty Images
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