Bangladesh captain Sakib al Hasan bowls during the 3rd one-day iInternational against Zimbabwe in Harare on Tuesday. — AFP photo
Bangladesh’s calamitous Zimbabwe tour ended on a winning note as they humbled the hosts by a massive 93 runs in the fifth and final one-dayer in Bulawayo on Sunday.
Sakib al Hasan returned to his all-round best, notching up 79 off 71 balls before his 2-26 helped Bangladesh restrict Zimbabwe to 160-9 with last batsman Keegan Meth absent injured.
Sakib added 107 runs with Mahmudullah for the sixth wicket to lift Bangladesh to 253-6, which at times looked a far cry after a typical slide in the middle-order.
Mahmudullah, unbeaten on 60, had his contribution in the win with three late wickets, but it was Sakib who led the team from front with both bat and ball to earn some consolation in 3-2 series defeat.
Zimbabwe were once again without Brian Vitori and it proved to be the real difference as Bangladesh were off to good start, though batsmen almost ruined it throwing wickets at regular interval.
Imrul Kayes ended his nightmarish tour with yet another poor score of nine, while Mohammad Ashraful, returning to the side for Junaed Siddique, once again failed to justify his inclusion having been dismissed for 15.
Tamim was going fine with his controlled aggression, but just as it happened throughout the series, he lost his wicket when it looked he was poised for a big total. His dismissal for 45 off 65 balls triggered yet another mini-collapse in the middle-order putting Bangladesh in danger being dismissed for a below-par total.
But Sakib stood tall once again and found an ally in Mahmudullah, who was a complete flop in all previous matches. The duo took their time to settle down and once they managed to do that it was time for the Zimbabwean bowlers to receive the hammering.
Sakib kept the scoreboard ticking always which for the first time allowed Bangladesh in the series to have a recognised batsman at the crease when it was time for them to take the batting powerplay.
He was out in the third over of batting powerplay, trying a slog sweep, but it did not cost Bangladesh much as they had still Nasir Hossain to accompany Mahmudullah in the final few overs.
Mahmudullah completed his fifty in the next over and shortly afterwards helped Bangladesh go past the 250-run mark, which was deemed enough on the turning track at Queens Park.
And the team could not have asked for a better start than what Rubel Hossain gave them when he forced the last match’s centurion Brendan Taylor to give a catch behind the stumps without scoring any runs.
When Sakib had in-form batsman Vusi Sibanda caught by Tamim for 34 and Razzak followed it up with a successful lbw shout against Hamilton Masakadza (27), the match turned into Bangladesh’s way.
Malcolm Waller provided some resistance with 51 off 70 balls, but Mahmudullah’s three-wicket burst ended Zimbabwe’s chase without any challenge.
‘Everything came well in the last two games. We were coming off a break from international cricket, so it was not going to be easy for the guys,’ Sakib told later as he received his man of the match trophy.
Source: Internet
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