Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by six wickets in the fifth and final one-day international of the series to record back-to-back series victories for the first time in their history. The final game of the series held added significance, with the series poised at
2-1 following a rained-out fourth game. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 4-0 last month before clinching this series against Zimbabwe 3-1.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zahur-Ahmed-c98518 Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong and elected to bat first. However the decision did not turn out well for the visitors, as they finished on 188 for six in the allotted 50 overs after some tight
bowling by the Bangladeshis.
Zimbabwe was in trouble straight, losing their first three wickets with just 21 runs on the board. Craig Ervine and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tatenda-Taibu-c92882 then put together a 95-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but the pair was not able to give enough momentum to the innings.
Taibu top-scored for Zimbabwe with 64 runs off a 104 balls, which included one four and a six. On the other hand, Ervine scored 46 off 100 balls with only just one boundary.
Captain Shakib Al Hassan was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh picking up three crucial wickets for 58 runs in his 10 overs. Mashrafe Murtaza also picked up two wickets after giving away only 25 runs. The home side’s premier spinners could not continue
their impressive wicket-taking run in the series, but they did bowl economically and gave nothing away.
In reply, Bangladesh faced an early hiccup when Imrul Kayes was dismissed by Chritopher Mpofu in the first over of the innings. Fellow opener Tamim Iqbal then combined with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045’s reach, with a wonderful
136-run partnership for the second wicket, before Tamim was caught out just five runs short of his century. The home team reached the target in 43 overs with 6 wickets in hand.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tamim-Iqbal-c2640 was the star of the show for the Bangladesh with a near run-a-ball 95. His innings included five fours and seven breath-taking sixes. Junaid Siddique remained unbeaten on 56 off 116 balls, and provided some great support to Tamim.
Mpofu, Cremer, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Price-c82662 and Debengwa picked up a wicket each for Zimbabwe in a losing cause.
Tamim was named the Man of Match for his brilliant knock, while left-arm spinner Abdur Razzaq was rightly named the Player of the Series for his marvelous display of spin bowling throughout the series.
Overall it was a well-fought series and a good preparation for both the teams ahead of next year’s World Cup. This series will help Bangladesh a lot, as the selectors had a great opportunity to develop the right team combination in the sub-continent. Bangladesh’s
consistent performances off-late are a dangerous sign for some of the major teams in world cricket, who will have to take Bangladesh seriously at the World Cup.
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