More Glory For Bangladesh Against Zimbabwe

Bangladesh beat their rivals Zimbabwe for the seventh successive time in one-day international cricket with a comfortable 45 run win over the Africans at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

The Zimbabwean captain Prosper Utseya won the toss and elected to bowl first, but they were soon made to regret that decision as Shahriar Nafees came after the bowlers, however Zimbabwe did pick up the wicket of Mehrab Hossain for 12. Nafees and Ahmed kept the pressure on the Zimbabwe bowling attack before Nafees was run out for 34 and Ahmed was out for a quickfire 31 off the bowling of Elton Chigumbura. On 93-3, Zimbabwe could've had a chance of bowling their nemesises out for a low score, but a partnership of 105 between Saqibul Hasan and skipper Habibul Bashar quashed the hopes of their opposition, and by the time Hasan was out for 68 and Bashar was gone for 78 the damage had already been done as Bangladesh were by then on 248-5. Bangladesh collapsed dramatically towards the end of their innings as they lost four wickets for just five runs to end up on 260-9, with Anthony Ireland the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers with figures of 3-41.

Zimbabwe made a decent start to their innings after losing Terry Duffin for 2, as Vusi Sibanda and Chamu Chibhabha made 46 and 57 respectively, albeit at an agonisingly slow speed, which left them having to score at well ahead of their current rate, when they were both dismissed by Saqibul Hasan and Mohammad Rafique respectively Zimbabwe were on 142-3 and going relatively well. But they paid the price for going too slowly and resorted to slogging, predictably that didn't work as they fell to 165-6 with Mashrafe Mortaza picking up the wickets of Hamilton Masakadza, Sean Williams and Tafadzwa Mufambisi in quick succession. Of the remaining 8 batsmen, only Masakadza (31 off 31 balls) and an inspired slog from Elton Chigumbura (47 off 27 balls) produce any decent score with the bat and eventually they fell for 215 off the last ball of the 48th over. A four wicket haul from Mortaza, who finished with 4-31 and Abdur Razzak, with 2-44 were the pick of the Bangladeshis who again proved to be too strong for the Zimbabweans.

Match Summary
Bangladesh 260-9 (50 overs)
Habibul Bashar 78 (87)
Saqibul Hasan 68 (74)
Shahriar Nafees 34 (44)
AJ Ireland 3-41 (10 overs))
CB Mpofu 2-39 (8)

Zimbabwe 215 (48 overs)
CJ Chibhabha 57 (116)
E Chigumbura 47 (27)
V Sibanda 46 (79)
Mashrafe Mortaza 4-31 (9)
Abdur Razzaq 2-44 (10)

Bangladesh win by 45 runs
Man of the Match: Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh)