A cool-blooded not-out of 96 run by star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan brought victory for the visiting Bangladesh in the second one-day international cricket match against Zimbabwe at Harare on Sunday.
He was ably supported by bowling all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin (28 not-out from 34 balls) and their unbeaten eighth-wicket partnership score of 69 runs after Bangladesh lost seventh wicket at 173 runs while chasing a target of 241 to win.
No other Bangladeshi batters made even 30 runs although the Bangladesh openers scored 39 runs. Other than Mahmudullah Riad(26) and Saifuddin, none had been able to build any strong partnership with Shakib.
Shakib, however, kept his cool and never bothered about hitting boundaries in his fighting innings. He rotated strikes and eventually finished four short of a century while Saifuddin, at the other end, played almost fluently.
Bangladesh’s victory came at the 49.1 over when Shakib hit a four following another four by his partner in the last of the previous over.
"Today was the day I had to put my hands up,” he said in his post-match reaction. “Today the wicket was slower. If the bowlers were bowling straight into the wicket, you had to take chances, which is where we lost wickets."
During bowling, Shakib captured two top order wickets of Zimbabwe who were restricted to 240 runs. The pick of the Bangladesh bowling was Shoriful Islam who took four wickets for 46 runs.
Despite a half century by Wessley Madhevere (56) and a fluent 46 scored by home side captain Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe failed to reach 250-run market.
With this victory, the Tigers have won the ODI series with one match to go.
Bangladesh also won the one-off Test during the ongoing tour of Zimbabwe.