Zimbabwe outclassed Bangladesh in every way on Day 1 of the Sylhet Test, which was a terrible start for Bangladesh.  What started out as an easy game for the Tigers quickly turned into a one-sided battle. The visitors came out on top and in a good position to take control of the game.

Najmul Hossain Shanto, the captain of Bangladesh, got the toss at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium and chose to bat first, which went badly right away.

Bangladesh's innings got off to a bad start when they lost both of their openers in the first session.  Mahmudul Hasan Joy got 14 runs, and Shadman Islam was out for 12 runs.  A 66-run third-wicket stand between captain Shanto and experienced left-hander Mominul Haque gave them some short-term relief.  Shanto cautiously got 40 runs off of 69 balls, and Mominul was the top scorer with 56 runs off of 105 balls, which was Bangladesh's only fifty of the innings.

The batting order fell apart when that partnership ended.  Hasan Mahmud (19) and Jaker Ali Anik (28) added some runs in the last few overs, but there were already a lot of damage.  The others, like veteran Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Taijul Islam, didn't even make it to ten.  In 61 overs, Bangladesh were bowled out for only 191 runs.

The bowlers did a great job for Zimbabwe.  Two wickets were taken by Victor Nyauchi and one was taken by Wesley Madhevere. Blessing Muzarabani and Wellington Masakadza each took three wickets.

Bangladesh were even more upset by Zimbabwe's answer with the bat.  Brian Bennett and Ben Curran, who batted first, had no trouble in the evening session and took the score to 67/0 in just 14.1 overs.  Bennett hit the ball hard and scored 40 runs off 37 balls, while Curran was more careful and scored 17 runs off of 49 balls.

Bangladesh couldn't make a breakthrough, even though the pitch helped the bowlers early on.  Zimbabwe ended the day only 124 runs behind with all ten wickets in hand.