Bangladesh clawed their way back into contention on day two of the first Test against Zimbabwe, reaching 57-1 in their second innings after bowling out the visitors for 273 in Sylhet on Monday.

Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz led the way with figures of 5-52—his 11th five-wicket haul in Test cricket—to help restrict Zimbabwe to an 82-run first-innings lead.

The platform, however, was laid earlier in the day by fast bowler Nahid Rana, who removed three top-order batters. Khaled Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud chipped in with a wicket each.

Zimbabwe’s innings was anchored by half-centuries from Sean Williams (59) and Brian Bennett (57), while a late unbeaten 28 from Richard Ngarava helped push the total past 250.

In reply, Bangladesh lost opener Sadman Islam early for four, caught in the slips off Blessing Muzarabani.  

Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who survived a chance, remained unbeaten alongside Mominul Haque at the close as Bangladesh trimmed the deficit to 25 with nine wickets in hand.

With three days remaining, the match remains finely balanced. Bangladesh will aim for a strong third-day batting effort to set Zimbabwe a challenging target.