The tour of Zimbabwe has been a chastening experience for Bangladesh, who started the one-day series as favourites but were staring at the prospect of a whitewash until the end of the penultimate match.
Bangladesh’s six-wicket win at the Queens Sports Club provided a gentle reminder of the team’s capabilities when on song and their performances in all three departments of the game exuded a level of positivity that had not previously been evidenced on this tour.
Rubel Hossain instigated a late-order collapse for Zimbabwe with four wickets in his last two overs but the performance of Abdur Razzak, who in the past has been the difference between the sides, was also encouraging.
There was also a marked improvement in the fielding department, highlighted by Nasir Hossain’s brilliant effort to effect the run-out of Tatenda Taibu, while Mushfiqur Rahman took a couple of sharp catches behind the stumps.
The batsmen sustained the momentum they picked up on the field to chase down a target of 200 with relative ease as a blazing innings of 61 runs from Tamim Iqbal set the tone for skipper Sakib al Hasan and newcomer Shuvagoto Hom to steer the team home with six wickets and 80 balls to spare.
A change of venue also proved to be a blessing for Bangladesh on Friday and heading into the final one-dayer the Tigers will be encouraged by their record of five wins in seven games in Bulawayo where conditions favour spin bowling more than they do in Harare.
But having a good record is seldom enough to win a cricket match as this series has shown and the only way the players can fully utilise the conditions in their favour is by performing to their potential as skipper Sakib al Hasan acknowledged after the fourth ODI.
‘I think this ground suits us more than the Harare ground,’ said Sakib at the post-match press conference on Friday.
‘The wicket had some spin, enough for our bowlers to do something. I don’t think we always win here because it suits us; we played good cricket today [Friday].’
The first win on the tour not only prevented the ignominy of a whitewash but also ensured that the team did not lose further points in the ICC’s ODI rankings where Bangladesh are currently in ninth place.
Although the team face no immediate threat from Zimbabwe for the ranking, Bangladesh nevertheless lost nine points as a result of the first three defeats in the series and they could redress that with another win to end the tour on a positive note.
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