Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto took the blame on his shoulders for his side's three-wicket defeat in the first of two Tests against Zimbabwe, for having played an unnecessary shot on the morning of the fourth day on Wednesday.

Bangladesh had high expectations from Shanto, who resumed on 60 on day four, to give the hosts a big lead over Zimbabwe and set up a challenging target in the fourth innings.

The reason behind that was the hosts had only Shanto, Jaker Ali and Mehedi Hasan Miraz as recognised batters in their second innings after they resumed the day on 194-4 with a lead of 112 runs.

As a set batter, Shanto's role was vital to give Bangladesh a substantial lead.

However, the southpaw disappointed all by attempting a pull shot on only the second delivery of the day -- after proceedings had been delayed by an hour due to a wet outfield -- only to top-edge to long leg, where Victor Nyauchi took a sharp catch off Blessing Muzarabani's bowling.

The dismissal created panic in the Bangladesh camp from which they hardly recovered, losing their remaining wickets for just 61 runs to be bowled out for 255, setting a modest target of 174.

"I think my dismissal spoiled the game for us. I think because of them getting the momentum, we lost the game," Shanto admitted after the match, accepting responsibility as a batsman.

"If you ask me about today's match, as a captain I will say that Bangladesh lost the game because of me, to be honest. In the morning, when I got out, our game spoiled at that time.

"If there had been a partnership of 50 to 60 runs, we could have given them a 220-plus target. I don't want to point out others' performances in this game. I want to take the sole responsibility as I got dismissed at a very wrong time," he said.

Shanto was also disappointed with the team's overall display; although he praised Mehedi and Taijul Islam for their efforts with the ball in the fourth innings.

Mehedi claimed his second five-for of the match, while Taijul bagged two as Bangladesh clawed back strongly in the game. However, the total was too small to defend in the end, allowing Zimbabwe to celebrate their first Test victory since 2021 after failing to win their last 10 matches.

"Of course, it's disappointing. If I analyse the entire match, we didn't play good enough cricket and that's why we lost. I won't say I'm extremely upset because it was also an international match," he said.

"I think Miraz and Taijul bhai tried really hard and bowled really well. But what I feel is that there were not enough runs on the board," said Shanto, who also hailed Muzarabani's effort with the ball, as the tall seamer finished the game with career-best figures of 9-122 and was adjudged player of the match.

"Of course, he bowled really well. He always gets an advantage from his height. Still, as a batting unit, we had to take more responsibility and make good plans against him to handle his good spells. I thought we could do that for a little while, but not for long," Shanto concluded.