Zimbabwe set 171-run target for Bangladesh

Sports Correspondent: Visiting Zimbabwe set a target of 171 runs against Bangladesh in the opening ODI match in the Tri-Nation Series at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka.

Bangladesh made light work of Zimbabwe's batting line-up, bowling the visitors out for 170 runs in 49 overs in the opening match.

Shakib Al Hasan's two wickets in the first over set the tone for the home side, after which Zimbabwe could never really recover.

Shakib finished with three wickets while Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman picked up two each. Each of them bowled well in different phases of the innings, as did Mashrafe Mortaza and Sunzamul Islam, who took one wicket apiece. Rubel's two wickets, off consecutive deliveries towards the end of the Zimbabwe innings, helped him complete 100 ODI wickets.

Zimbabwe must have guessed that a stern test by left-arm spin awaited them, but they may not have expected both Shakib Al Hasan and Sunzamul Islam to take the new ball.

It wasn't, however, the greatest of deliveries from Shakib that earned Bangladesh the two early wickets. First, Mushfiqur Rahim's alert hands whipped off the bails as Solomon Mire couldn't keep his balance to a Shakib delivery that slid down the leg side. One ball later, Craig Ervine chipped a straight delivery to short midwicket where Sabbir Rahman completed a regulation catch.

Mashrafe, too, kept the pressure on after Shakib and Sunzamul finished with their respective first spells. In the eighth over, Mashrafe removed Hamilton Masakadza, who edged an ambitious drive to Mushfiqur.

A little bit of consolidation followed for the next eight overs before Mustafizur Rahman had Brendon Taylor caught behind for 24. Taylor looked bright at times but succumbed to a spell of tidy bowling from the left-arm pacer.

Malcolm Waller arrived at the crease at that point, and with him came a lot of luck. Nasir Hossain dropped him at slip off Rubel Hossain in the 21st over before Sunzamul missed a straightforward caught-and-bowled chance in the 26th over. But Waller didn't make use of his good fortune as he edged behind off Sunzamul the very next ball to first slip for 13.

Raza, who had helped in adding 21 and 30 for the fourth and fifth-wicket stands, then found an able ally in Peter Moor as the pair approached a slow rebuilding process. But some poor calling cost Raza his wicket, as he fell in the 40th over shorting after reaching his ninth ODI fifty. The sixth-wicket partnership added exactly 50.

Moor and Graeme Cremer, the Zimbabwe captain, added 30 runs for the seventh wicket which ended when the latter holed out to long-off, giving Shakib his third wicket in his last over.

Moor, who made 33, fell in the 48th over to a Rubel yorker before the pace bowler produced a similar full-length delivery to castle Tendai Chatara next ball. That dismissal, the ninth Zimbabwe wicket to fall, made Rubel the third-fastest Bangladesh bowler to 100 ODI wickets.

Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza chose to bowl first after winning the toss in the first match against Zimbabwe.

The home side Bangladesh last featured in an ODI fixture against South Africa in a three-match series. On the other hand, Zimbabwe last played a four-day pink ball Test match against the Proteas and faced a defeat by an innings and 120 runs.

Bangladesh:

Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyadh, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Sunzamul Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.

Zimbabwe:

Hamilton Masakadza, Solomon Mire, Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor, Sikandar Raza, Peter Moor, Malcolm Waller, Graeme Cremer, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara and Kyle Jarvis.


risingbd/Dhaka/Jan 15, 2018/Yeasin/AI