BANGLADESH VS ZIMBABWE Tigers seal second ODI win

Anamul Haque and Tamim Iqbal take a single during 2nd ODI against Zimbabwe at Chittagong on Sunday. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

The outstanding opening by batsmen and excellent finishing by bowlers gave the Tigers a comfortable 68-run win against Zimbabwe in the second ODI at Chittagong.

Openers — Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque — both laid down a solid foundation with a 158-run partnership, the second highest for Bangladesh, hitting half-centuries after choosing to bat first at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in the port city.

Meanwhile, it was Arafat Sunny, who took upon the finishing task to seal the victory for Bangladesh claiming three wickets, two of consecutive, in the 45th and final over of the game.

The slow left-arm orthodox dismissed T Panyangara (8) in his first delivery and removed J Nyumbu (0) and T Kamungozi (0) in his fourth and fifth in the same over.

Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza first struck the Zimbabwe top orders removing opener H Masakadza (0) and V Sibanda (21) in his last deliveries of the first and sixth over respectively as the visitors were chasing the Tigers’ 251 runs.

The right-arm fast-medium bowler also sent another opener Sikandar Raza (16) back to the pavilion after Mahmudullah took a brilliant catch in ninth over.

Zimbabwe middle order batsman BRM Taylor (8) also followed his predecessors after giving an overhead catch to Mahmudullah in a delivery of Arafat Sunny.

As Regis Chakabva (32) was trying to pull the visitors from crumbled edge building a 66-run partnership with Solomon Mire (34) after four top batsmen were lost early, he finally surrendered before Al-Amin Hossain giving a catch to Mashrafe.

Mire also went back to the pavilion after scoring a half-century in a delivery of Shakib Al Hasan.

Earlier, Bangladesh slumped in the middle to manage 251 runs at the end of their innings despite a brilliant opening.

After openers Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque struck half-centuries, the Tigers were cruising towards a probable score beyond 300 after choosing to bat first.

Bangladesh failed to utilise the flat and slow pitch at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium coupled with best weather conditions – ideal for batting in the first half of the match.

The Tigers’ middle order broke down after Mominul Haque was lowered to the sixth-down batsman and Shakib, Mushfiq and Mahmudullah promoted one place each.

Shakib Al Hasan got out in the very first delivery he faced. Sabbir Rahman was out at 0, Mushfiq at 27 and Mahmudullah at 12. Mominul was not out at 33.

Zimbabwe’s Panyangara and Kamungozi claimed two wickets each. Chatara and Sibanda picked one wicket each.

Zimbabwe sought to end their losing streak after the visitors were whitewashed 3-0 in the Test series and losses in the first ODI and the solo practice match against BCB XI.

Teams:

Bangladesh:

Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mashrafe Mortaza*, Arafat Sunny, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain

Zimbabwe:

H Masakadza, Sikandar Raza, V Sibanda, BRM Taylor, RW Chakabva, E Chigumbura*, SF Mire, T Panyangara, J Nyumbu, TL Chatara, T Kamungozi