Craig Ervine leads recovery to 266 for 8

Zimbabwe A 266 for 8 (Ervine 69*, Dabengwa 52, al Hasan 3-53) v Bangladesh A
Scorecard

Zimbabwe A recovered from an indifferent start in the third and final Test against Bangladesh at the Kwekwe Sports Club, and had reached 266 for 8 by the end of the first day. Bangladesh A lead the three-match series 2-0.

Deon Ebrahim won the toss and decided to bat, but at 88 for 5 - and later 141 for 6 - his decision wasn't looking inspired. Ebrahim himself made a dogged 33, from 130 balls, but Winston Siziba and Vusi Sibanda both fell to Saqibul Hasan, the 15-year-old left-arm medium-pacer, who finished up with 3 for 53 from 32 overs.

Much interest centred on the return to the Zimbabwe fold of the former "rebel" Andy Blignaut, but he gave a return catch to Sanwar Hossain after scoring only 10.

Zimbabwe A were rescued by a rearguard led by Sean Ervine's younger brother Craig, who hit 69 not out and shared a seventh-wicket partnership of 77 with Keith Dabengwa, whose 52 included eight fours. Blessing Mahwire then contributed a forthright 28, from 30 balls with five fours, and the final score was an improvement for the Zimbabweans.