Tigers 7 wickets away from victory

Bangladesh are well and truly in the driver's seat of the one-off Test match against Zimbabwe at Harare. They need 7 wickets on the fifth day to seal an away Test win after four years.

Bangladesh set quite an unlikely target of 477 for hosts Zimbabwe in the one-off Test match in Harare thanks to centuries from Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto in Bangladesh's second innings. 

Zimbabwe finished the day on 140 for 3. Skipper Brendan Taylor counterattacked the Bangladeshi bowling attack but he was dismissed for a T20-esque 92 off 73 balls. 

The hosts still need 337 runs to win.

Taskin, Miraz, and Shakib picked up a wicket each.

Earlier, Shadman Islam and Saif Hassan, the Bangladesh openers unbeaten overnight, started cautiously. The pair added 43 runs in 13.2 overs to the overnight score of 45 for no loss before Saif Hassan was guilty of playing one shot too many and lost his wicket. 

Najmul Hossain Shanto came in at number three and looked to keep the scoreboard moving. There was a sense of urgency in his batting. Shanto was particularly brutal against part-timer Roy Kaia, hitting him for two huge sixes. Bangladesh had a productive first session as they scored 124 runs off 32 overs at a decent rate. 

Shadman Islam notched up his fifty in the first session and was unbeaten on 72 at lunch. 

Shanto, too, picked up his fifty just after the resumption of play in the afternoon session. The southpaw reached the milestone in just 60 balls. 

Shanto and Shadman stepped on the gas in the second session. Shanto was the more aggressive of the two, coming down the wicket multiple times and hitting boundaries. 

Shadman racked up his maiden Test century off 180 deliveries. The left-handed batter became only the third Bangladesh opener to score a Test hundred away from home.

Shanto scored his second Test hundred off just 109 balls and in the process became the third-fastest centurion for Bangladesh in Tests outside Bangladesh. 

Both of them opened up their shoulders after scoring their hundreds and added some quick runs before Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque declared the innings at 284 for one. 

Shadman and Shanto added 196 off just 225 balls. This was the highest partnership by a Bangladeshi pair for the second wicket on foreign soil. In the end, Shanto was unbeaten on 117 and Shadman on 115. 

Remarkably, Shanto hit more sixes than fours in the innings. His tally of six sixes is the joint second-highest number of sixes in an innings by a Bangladeshi batter in Tests.

Spinners opened the bowling for Bangladesh from both ends. Shakib Al Hasan troubled the batters in the first over itself, almost getting Milton Shumba out leg before. 

Taskin Ahmed was introduced into the attack in the sixth over and he made an immediate impact by getting the better of Shumba.

Zimbabwe were earlier bundled out for 276 in reply to Bangladesh's huge first innings total of 458. Mehidy Hasan Miraz picked up his 8th five-wicket haul. Mahmudullah starred in Bangladesh's first innings with a career-best 150.