Bangladesh finally managed to stage a turnaround on Tuesday to beat a hapless Zimbabwe side by a comprehensive margin of 91 runs.
Ace allrounder Shakib al Hasan was the wrecker-in-chief for the hosts with his bowling figure of 3/34 in nine overs to skittle out the visitors for a paltry total of 125 in just 36.3 overs in the fifth match of the tri-nation ODI series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Dhaka.
The match was never going to be easy, but Zimbabwe made it even more difficult for them by playing some reckless shots.
Masakadza and Mire threw it away, so did Craig Ervine. Sikandar Raza and Peter Moor arrested the slide with a steady partnership, but once that was broken it was a one-way traffic.
Raza top-scored with 39 for the Zimbabweans while all the Bangladeshi bowlers were among the wickets. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shakib gave the hosts the perfect start - picking four wickets in the first powerplay when the visitors were reeling at 34/4 in just 9.2 overs. The remaining ones then sang in the same tune contributing to wrap up the Zimbabwe innings with aplomb.
Mashrafe, spinner Sunzamul and pace sensation Mustafizur took two wickets apiece for the tigers.
The tigers, however, had to roar back from a batting hiccup caused by the visitors’ inspirational bowling earlier in the first innings when skipper Mashrafe chose to bat first after winning the toss.
The high-flying hosts wanted to maintain the winning momentum in the series after already booking the final berth, but the visitors surprisingly restricted them to 216-9 in stipulated 50 overs.
Although dashing opener Tamim Iqbal top-scored with 76 followed by world’s number one allrounder Shakib with 51, captain Cremer of Zimbabwe tamed the tigers with his innings-best haul of 4/32. Kyle Jarvis also bowled superbly taking 3/42.
As it seemed, the Zimbabweans had something else in mind as a factor of motivation after defeating Sri Lankan earlier in the series and the rejuvenated visitors duly took it as a must-win game for them to keep their final hope alive.
One change was brought in the Tigers' starting eleven as Sunzamul Islam came in to replace pacer Mohammad Saifuddin while the Zimbabweans fielded an unchanged XI that played against the Lankans in their last game.
Tamim was adjudged man-of-the-match for his scintillating innings. He also became the highest run-scorer at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium as a single venue.
Bangladesh’s innings total 216/9 was the fourth lowest total that the hosts have successfully defended.
With this, the tigers have recorded three wins and all of them with bonus points while the Zimbabweans now need to wait for the result of the next game, which will be played between the hosts and Lankans on January 25.