CHATTOGRAM (Bangladesh) : Riding high on a spectacular all-rounded performance, Bangladesh cruised to a comprehensive 8-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first T20I of the five-match series on Friday at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
Bangladesh got a grip on the game in the first innings when they reduced Zimbabwe to 41/7 and from that point they never let it slip out from their hand.
While chasing 125, Blessing Muzarabani struck early to raise hopes of an unprecedented comeback.
A lovely in-swinging delivery burst through Litton Das’s bat-pad gap as he attempted to play a cover drive. The middle stump was flattened as Litton walked back with a score of 1.
After the third over, drizzle interrupted the game but it turned out to be a passing shower and the match resumed with no overs lost.
Muzarabani almost got his second in the 4th over, but Tanzid Hasan’s catch was dropped and the left-hander made the visitors pay.
In his T20I debut knock, Tanzid remained unbeaten on a 67*(47) and forged game-changing partnerships with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy to take Bangladesh across the finish line.
Despite enduring a defeat Zimbabwe were disciplined with the ball throughout the second innings, but the mistakes that they made in the field kept the pressure away from Bangladesh’s shoulders.
Bangladesh marched on to a comfortable 8-wicket victory with more than four overs to spare.
Earlier in the innings, after winning the toss and putting Zimbabwe to bat, Mahedi Hasan struck early which opened the floodgates for Bangladesh.
Zimbabwe lost four batters inside powerplay and the writing was on the wall for them.
Clive Madande (43) and Wellington Masakadza (34) forged a 75-run stand which propelled Zimbabwe to 124.
Brief Score: Zimbabwe 124 (Clive Madande 43, Wellington Masakadza 34; Taskin Ahmed 3-14) vs Bangladesh 126/2 (Tanzid Hasan 67*, Towhid Hridoy 33*; Luke Jongwe 1-14). (ANI)