Bangladesh recovered from the loss of quick wickets in the death
overs through Mahmudullah’s fifty to post 276 for nine in 50 overs.
After a few lusty blows to the cow-corner and straight down the
ground, Mashrafe was bowled by Panyangara for 16 as Bangladesh batters
tried urgently to score big.
Visiting bowlers maintained discipline in the death overs as Bangladesh lost wickets in a hurry.
| BANGLADESH v ZIMBABWE 3rd ODI |
| Bangladesh: 276/9 (50.0 over) |
| Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat |
Nasir Hossain fell for a second-ball duck, Sabbir Rahman was
dismissed for one while Liton Das was sent back for 17 in the space of
nine balls.
Zimbabwe clawed back into the match when they stopped the Mushfiq-Liton stand at 17 for the 3rd wicket.
Waller bowled a quickish delivery that found Bangladesh wicketkeeper
hopelessly out of his crease, and Mushfiqur Rahim went back with 28 runs
to his name.
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal was dismissed for 73 as he tried to up
the ante in the power-play overs in the 3rd ODI against Zimbawe at
Mirpur stadium.
He faced 98 balls in his solid knock, and smacked seven fours and a
massive six to the delight of the home crowd. More importantly, he have
Bangladesh a good launching pad for the death overs.
Zimbabwe came back into the match when Sikandar Raza’s off-spin did
the trick and dismissed Imrul Kayes after the Tigers lefty scored back
to back fifties in the series.
Imrul Kayes scored 73 from 95 balls with six fours and four delightful sixes punctuating his innings.
Together with Tamim, they kept the Zimbabwe bowlers at bay for nearly 30 overs, and managed 147 runs in the process.
Bangladesh openers Tamim and Imrul dictated terms to the Zimbabwe
bowlers with their dominant opening stand of 100 in the 3rd ODI at
Mirpur.
Tamim reached his seventh ODI fifty against Zimbabwe soon after Imrul
with a nudge to square-leg. He played 70 balls and smashed five
boundaries in his knock.
Imrul Kayes brought up his 2nd fifty against Zimbabwe in 76 balls
(four 4s, 3 6s) and began to open his shoulders with the spinners in
operation.
Bangladesh openers built a solid platform with their first wicket
stand but were kept honest by probing spells from Zimbabwe bowlers early
in the innings.
Both of them took full advantage of anything short and wide on the
batting pitch, and spanked some lovely boundaries to keep the scoreboard
moving.
Zimbabwe opening bowlers Panyangara and Muzarabani kept the ball
around the off-stump more often than not, and didn’t allow the Tigers
batters to free their arms as much as they would have liked.
Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe won the toss and wanted to put up a good total on board.
This is the first time Mashrafe had won the toss this series. Both sides are unchanged.
With the series in the kitty, Bangladesh may eye some experimentation, but that's quite unlikely.
Bangladesh's surge began with their 5-0 sweep over Zimbabwe in 2014,
and the hosts find themselves on another sweep against the same
opponents.
Shakib had left on paternity leave, but Kayes quelled his nerves with
some advice from his "boss", and struck 76 on return, setting up
Bangladesh's fifth ODI series
win on the bounce.
The bowlers have also been steady, besides benefiting from Zimbabwe's poor shot selection.
Bangladesh Team
Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim
(Wicketkeeper), Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza
(Captain), Arafat Sunny, Al-Amin Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman
Zimbabwe Team
CJ Chibhabha, RW Chakabva (Wicketkeeper), CR Ervine, SC Williams, E
Chigumbura (Captain), Sikandar Raza, MN Waller, LM Jongwe, AG Cremer, T
Panyangara and T Muzarabani
