Tri Series: Zimbabwe V Bangladesh, 1st ODI: All-Round Brilliance From Bangladesh Hands Them Convincing Victory

Bangladesh Tigers began their Tri-series campaign against Zimbabwe on a winning note riding on an impressive bowling performance by Bangladesh.

It was a dominating performance by the Asian team as they romped home by 8 wickets after restricting Zimbabwe to a below-par score of 170. It was Bangladesh skipper Mahsrafe Mortaza who won the toss and put Zimbabwe in.

The Tigers got off to a sensational start courtesy Shakib-al-Hasan’s opening over where the left-arm spinner bagged the wickets of Solomon Mire and Craig Ervine. Hamilton Masakadza was the next man to fall as Zimbabwe were reduced to 30/3. There was no resistance from the African minnows as they kept falling like nine pins. Comeback man Brendan Taylor chipped in with 24 of 45 deliveries Sikandar Raza scored a pretty slow half-century and was dismissed on 52 of 99 deliveries.

Peter Moor also played a useful hand towards the later stages of the innings as Zimbabwe eventually managed to score 170 in 49 overs. Shakib-al-Hasan was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers returning with an impressive spell of 3/43 while Mustafizur Rahman and Rube Hossain also chipped in with a couple of wickets.

Chasing a below par total, Bangladesh got off to a brisk yet steady start. Opener Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque struck some exquisite shots to set things rolling for Bangladesh. Anamul Haque was eventually dismissed by Sikandar Raza who chipped in with a couple of wickets. However, his efforts went in vain as Bangladesh chased the total down with utmost ease.

Southpaw Tamim Iqbal struck some delightful shots to get going and remained unbeaten on 84 of 3 deliveries as the Tigers chased the total down with more than 20 overs to spare. His innings was studded with 8 fours and a six while Shakib-al-Hasan also chipped in with 37 of 46 deliveries which included five boundaries.

Brief Scores

Zimbabwe 170 all-out in 49 overs (Sikandar Raza 52, Shakib-al-Hasan 3/43)

Bangladesh 171/2 in 28.3 overs (Tamim Iqbal 83*, Sikandar Raza 2/53)

Bangladesh won by 8 wickets (with 21.3 overs to spare)

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