Mominul laments soft dismissals as Bangladesh fall behind on opening day

Bangladesh batter Mominul Haque felt "it was not their day" as the visitors surrendered to Zimbabwe on the opening day of the one-off Test at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

Bangladesh suffered a dramatic batting collapse, losing eight wickets for just 27 runs. They were bowled out for 140 in 47.2 overs after being asked to bat first, with Mominul top-scoring with 60 off 81 balls.

Zimbabwe reached 136-1 by stumps, trailing by just four runs, with Innocent Kaia unbeaten on 76 and Brendan Taylor on 17.

"I think it was not our day," Mominul said. "Every dismissal was a bit of a soft dismissal. With the new ball they bowled very well but we did not execute our plan."

"The first hour was challenging because of the weather — it is winter and the bowlers got extra bounce with some swing and seam. Me and Najmul Shanto almost got a good partnership but the rest didn't execute their plan."

Mominul said he was fine with four frontline bowlers but added that touring bowlers should learn from the hosts on where to bowl.

"Our bowlers didn't bowl at the stumps…that's why they gave away most of the runs. If you see Zimbabwean bowlers they bowled in the right areas," he said, adding that Bangladesh needed to dismiss Zimbabwe within another 100 runs to make a game of it.

Bangladesh ODI squad departs for Zimbabwe without Litton

Litton Das failed to recover in time to travel with the ODI squad led by Mehidy Hasan Miraz that departed for Zimbabwe on Sunday.

Litton is now expected to join the squad in Harare on July 1 after doctors advised more rest following a scan on Saturday. It remains to be seen whether he makes the series opener on July 6, with the next two games on July 9 and 11. Litton will miss the T20Is following the ODIs to fulfill his Lanka Premier League commitments.