BAN vs ZIM 2025, 1st Test: Skipper Shanto, middle-order help Bangladesh go past visitors' lead on Day 3

Bangladesh made a solid comeback in the first Test match against Zimbabwe on the third day as they took a lead by 112 runs in their second innings. The credits for the act belonged to Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mominul Haque, and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto for putting up a good fight against the visitors. The players stuck around, giving a tough challenge to the Zimbabwe bowlers.

The host had a good day, even though it was a rain-curtailed one, and they moved from 57 for 1 to 194 for 4 by Stumps on Day 3 of the game. They still have six wickets in hand and can go past 200 runs as the lead. Captain Shanto will continue batting on 60 runs off 103 balls alongside Jaker Ali, who is on 21 runs off 60 balls. Together, the batters formed a partnership of 39 runs off 92 balls. The visitors will have to take wickets to create a chance of winning in the first match.

For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani claimed three wickets, while Nyauchi got one wicket. Muzarabani dismissed the batters in form, bringing Zimbabwe back into the game. The hosts skipper formed a partnership with Hasan Joy of 60 runs, followed by a partnership of 65 runs with Haque.

Both batters are looking in decent touch and have a good chance of putting up a solid target on the board for the African nation. Zimbabwe took a lead of 82 runs the previous day, but Shanto & Co. outplayed them a day later. The batters will be extremely happy with the results as they managed to form good partnerships.

Now, everything will fall on the middle-order and how they take the game forward from here on. The game has just opened, and the results will not be known until the last day. It will be interesting to watch how the Zimbabwe bowlers pull back the game on Day 4.