HARARE, July 18: Shakib Al Hasan put on a chasing masterclass with his unbeaten 96 in a nervy chase against Zimbabwe, that ended up with a three-wicket win for Bangladesh at the Harare Sports Club. The win clinched the series for the visitors.
Shakib endured two batting collapses at the other end but kept his nerve during the 69-run unbroken eighth-wicket stand with Mohammad Saifuddin. They got together with the score on 173 for 7 in the 39th over, focusing only on risk-free ones and twos, and the odd three.
The home side were on the other end of the nerves scale — substitute Milton Shumba missed an easy run-out chance with Saifuddin stranded at the non-striker’s end, while Regis Chakabva and Richard Ngarava missed difficult catches.
Bangladesh only scored three boundaries in the last 19 overs of their innings, but it was enough to turn the game on its head. Their effort neutralised all the good work done by Wessley Madhevere and Sikandar Raza who put on a superb all-round show.
They took a wicket each in their tight spells, having already taken superb catches at point, and rescued their side with a 63-run sixth-wicket stand.
This was only Shakib’s second fifty this year, but it came just a day after he had taken a five-wicket haul in Bangladesh’s 155-run win in the first ODI of this series.
Saifuddin proved his worth as a lower-order batter, not with his big hits, but by keeping his head in Bangladesh’s first win in a chase since the 2019 World Cup.
They got off to a boundary-heavy start, as captain Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das struck four boundaries each during their 39-run opening stand. The visitors, then, slipped to 74 for 4 in the next eight overs.
But as has happened quite regularly this year, Mahmudullah comes to the rescue after four wickets are down cheaply. This time too, he added 55 runs for the fifth wicket with Shakib, having struck three fours in his 26. But Blessing Muzarabani got him caught behind off the first ball of his second.
The visitors then had a another batting collapse and it seemed Bangladesh wouldn’t turn the tide, but Saifuddin and Shakib had other plans in their mind.
Earlier, Zimbabwe’s batters couldn’t convert their starts after captain Brendan Taylor said at the toss that he decided to bat first to put less pressure on his young batters. Madhevere’s stand with Raza, making a comeback after a shoulder surgery, lifted them to the 200-plus score.
Zimbabwe couldn’t quite take advantage of being in good positions in the match, and Bangladesh showed their experience despite getting into difficult positions themselves. (Agencies)
