Zimbabwe captain Richard Ngarava calls historic win over Bangladesh 'special'

Zimbabwe captain Richard Ngarava hailed his side's emphatic victory over Bangladesh as a "special" moment after the hosts secured a dominant innings and 85 runs win in the one-off Test at Harare Sports Club.

Zimbabwe laid the foundation for the memorable triumph by bowling Bangladesh out for just 140 in the first innings before piling up 410 to take a commanding 270-run lead. Newman Nyamhuri starred with the ball, returning figures of 4/61, while Innocent Kaia anchored the innings with a superb 140.

Bangladesh never managed to recover from the early setback. Chasing survival rather than victory, the visitors struggled against Zimbabwe's disciplined bowling attack and were dismissed for 185 in their second innings. Blessing Muzarabani led the charge with a four-wicket haul, while captain Ngarava chipped in with 3/32 to seal the comprehensive win.

The victory marked another significant milestone for Zimbabwe, who registered successive innings victories in Test cricket for the first time. They had previously beaten Afghanistan by an innings and 73 runs in October 2025.

"I think we have got a nice pack of bowlers, champion bowlers," Ngarava was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "The results can always show themselves. The hard work that the boys have put in got us to where we are now. To be honest, as I walked into this Test match, there's one thing I was thinking about, which is making history. Zimbabwe, from before, had never won back-to-back Test series or any other series, so it's quite special to be winning back-to-back series."

The Zimbabwe skipper also credited his team's understanding of home conditions, believing it gave them a decisive edge over the visitors.

"We've got an idea of what conditions we have. We've got an advantage of the home soil. Whichever team comes here, we know the conditions better. We're in winter right now. We definitely knew we just needed to walk out there and bowl as many good balls as we can.

"Of course, youngsters out there are looking and they're looking up to us. It's part of our job to actually deliver and make them 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."