Zimbabwe complete the formalities

Zimbabwe 441 and 242 for 8 dec beat Bangladesh 331 (Ashraful 98) and 169 (Price 4-61) by 183 runs
Scorecard

Zimbabwe completed their first Test victory since November 2001, and Bangladesh slumped to their 26th defeat in 27 matches, after being extracted bit by bit on the final day at Harare. The result had never been in doubt after an astonishing collapse on Sunday afternoon - when an Andy Blignaut hat-trick had reduced Bangladesh from 12 for 0 to 14 for 5 - but Zimbabwe were made to work for their win, thanks to a feisty 61 from the former captain Khaled Mashud, and a gritty 47 from Rajin Saleh.

Zimbabwe were made to wait over an hour for their first breakthrough of the day, as Rajin and Manjural Islam Rana added 67 for the sixth wicket. But then the spinner Ray Price got to work. Rajin was coaxed out of his crease and stumped with a half-century in sight, and Rana was snapped up by Trevor Gripper for 31. Two overs later, Tapash Baisya was trapped lbw by Price for 2 and, at 112 for 8, Bangladesh looked set to complete their innings in the sort of pickle in which it had begun.

Mohammad Rafique didn't last long, as Gavin Ewing accepted a caught-and-bowled offering - his first Test wicket - but Mashud dropped anchor and found improbable support from the tailender Manjural Islam. Manjural had already helped to add a national-record 43 for the tenth wicket in the first innings. Now he went three better, contributing one run from 27 balls as Mashud attempted to defy gravity in a 46-run partnership.

But it couldn't last, and Price eventually snared his fourth wicket of the innings, as Mashud was beaten in flight and well stumped by Tatenda Taibu. The victory margin of 183 runs was entirely attributable to that wretched collapse on the fourth afternoon. Once again, Bangladesh had failed to last the distance in a contest that had been evenly fought over the first three days. They now have two days to regroup ahead of the second and final Test at Bulawayo, which begins on Thursday.