ZIMBABWE wrapped up a series sweep over Bangladesh after winning the one-off Test with an innings and 85-run win at Harare Sports Club yesterday, with skipper Richard Ngarava hailing the achievement as a historic first for the national side.
Ngarava said winning back-to-back Test series for the first time in the nation’s history was at the forefront of his mind as his side closed out victory over Bangladesh in the one-off Test at Harare Sports Club.
“As I walked into this Test match, there’s one thing I was thinking about, which is making history,” Ngarava said at the post-match presser.
“Zimbabwe, from before, never won back-to-back Test series or any other series, so it’s quite special to be winning a back-to-back series.”
The Zimbabwe captain credited the collective effort of his squad rather than individual brilliance for the result, pointing to months of hard work behind the scenes.
“In every sport, you play as a unit and to be very honest, everyone contributed there and I really feel like that’s what brought us to where we are.
“Not forgetting the hard work the boys have put in the past few months.”
One of the standout individual achievements of the match was towering seamer Blessing Muzarabani’s rise to become Zimbabwe’s third-highest wicket-taker in Test history, a landmark Ngarava was reluctant to dwell on publicly.
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“Blessing is a champion bowler and that’s all I have to say. He’s a champion bowler and we expect him to keep going,” Ngarava said when asked whether the milestone had been a talking point in the dressing room.
Ngarava also praised the development of young paceman Newman Nyamhuri, the left-arm seamer who has been working alongside the experienced pairing of himself and Muzarabani.
“I quite like Newman in the sense that he’s quite open to learning new things,” he said.
“He’s quite young and I feel like it’s a privilege to have me and Bless in there... I’m really proud of him and how quickly he’s learning.”
The skipper added that home conditions, and the experience gained from past setbacks, had been central to Zimbabwe’s growth as a unit.
“We’ve got an advantage of the home soil. Whichever team comes here, we know the conditions better,” Ngarava said, while also stressing the responsibility senior players carry in mentoring the next generation watching on.
“It’s part of our job to actually deliver and get off this field with a smile . . . it’s quite important that as the youngsters are watching from out there, they also get to learn one or two things.”
For Bangladesh, head coach Phil Simmons was candid in admitting his side had surrendered the contest with a poor batting effort early in the match, particularly in the first session and across the lunch-to-tea period on day one.
“A lot could have been done differently. I think the first two hours we ruined the game, but the lunch and tea on the first day we lost the game,” Simmons said.
“We were way [below par] batted in that period. A little more dedication into the batting at that point there could have seen us put on a better show in this game, but we didn’t play well.”
Simmons acknowledged Zimbabwe’s superior application of conditions as a deciding factor.
“They batted better than us,” he said.
“They played properly on the wicket.
“That happens when you’re at home, you know your conditions so you would generally bat better.”
Despite the defeat, Simmons insisted the result would not dent the morale of a Bangladesh side that arrived in Harare on the back of a strong run of form.
“There’s still a lot of confidence even though we’ve lost the match.
“We’ve won something like five Test matches straight... one Test match doesn’t change how much confidence we have.
“We take the fact that we lost because we didn’t do the right things, and we move on from there.”
The Bangladesh coach conceded his side had been outplayed rather than outclassed, calling the defeat a hard lesson to absorb before their next assignment.
“They played well, but we didn’t play as well as we can do.
“It’s our mistake. So it’s a bitter pill to swallow.
“But we have to swallow it and make sure we move on from there.”
