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ZIMBABWE continued their recent dominance over Bangladesh as the Chevrons cruised to a 99-run victory over the Asian side to open their One-Day Internationals (ODI) Tri-series on a positive note at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
The series is part of Zimbabwe’s month-long tour in the United Arab Emirates where Afghanistan, the third participant, are hosting the Chevrons and Bangladesh to open their home season.
The three teams – Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and hosts Afghanistan – are expected to play each other once with the top two sides making the Tri-series final next weekend.
Chevrons skipper Sikandar Raza won the toss and elected to bat, a move that almost immediately backfired as Zimbabwe lost three early wickets.
Bangladeshi seamer Taskin Ahmed accounted for both of Zimbabwe’s opening pair of Brian Bennett and Ben Curran before they could trouble the scorers.
The 31-year-old quick trapped both batters leg before wicket, with Bennett making his way back to the dressing room for a six-ball duck while Curran could only manage six runs off 11 balls before he too walked back to the pavilion.
It soon turned out to be a debut to forget for Tafadzwa Tsiga as the Zimbabwe wicketkeeper, in his first start for the Chevrons, made only 16 runs off 15 balls before he became Taskin’s third victim of the day.
The Chevrons debutant edged one to Bangladesh wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan to end his day early with the bat.
This brought together the seasoned hands of Craig Ervine and Brendan Taylor, whose fourth-wicket stand of 150 runs off 176 balls rebuilt Zimbabwe’s innings.
The huge stand also saw Taylor etch his name in the history books as his 81 runs off 101 balls saw the 41-year-old become Zimbabwe’s top run-scorer in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), eclipsing the now-retired Andy Flower (6,786).
Taylor’s tally now stands at 6,837 runs.
Unfortunately, Taylor finished just 19 runs shy of what would have been a well-deserved century and the 12th of his career.
His magnificent innings came to an end when he was dismissed attempting to sweep Said Hasan, only to find Mosaddek Hossain at point.
His dismissal signalled the start of a small slump for the Chevrons, who lost the wickets of skipper Sikandar Raza (4), Wessly Madhevere (17), Ervine and Brad Evans (5), going from 174 for four to 234 for eight.
It took the heroics of Wellington Masakadza and Newman Nyamhuri, whose unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 37 runs off 26 balls helped Zimbabwe to a competitive 271 for eight.
Both batters finished unbeaten on 21, with Masakadza’s knock coming off 15 balls and Nyamhuri’s off 17 balls.
Ervine top-scored for Zimbabwe with 93 runs off 106 balls while Taylor chipped in with 81.
Ahmed was the pick of the Bangladeshi bowlers with three for 44, while the duo of Islam and Hassan chipped in with two wickets each.
Rishad Hossain could only get a solitary wicket from his costly nine overs that saw the spinner go for 66 runs.
Zimbabwe’s bowlers put up a dominant performance to bowl out Bangladesh for 172 in 33.4 overs.
An opening stand by Soumya Sarkar and Tanzid Hasan that saw the two race to 47 runs off 40 balls ended up being the Asian side’s only talking point with the bat.
Four batters failed to reach double figures, with Tanzid Hasan top-scoring for Bangladesh with 46 runs off 38 balls.
He found assistance in the form of Saif Hassan and Rishad Hossain, who chipped in with 26 off 37 balls and 23 runs off 32 balls respectively.
Brad Evans was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers with four for 45, while Raza and Masakadza both chipped in with two wickets each.
Blessing Muzarabani and Nyamhuri both claimed a scalp each to complete an all-round performance by Zimbabwe’s bowlers.
Speaking after the match, Raza was over the moon but alluded to the need to carry on as they prepare to face Afghanistan tomorrow.
“Obviously, there’s only one day off between games, so we might have a few beers in the changing room, but we will be back in two days’ time for another game,” he said.
His in-form bowler, Evans, was happy with his team’s all-round performance with bat and ball.
On his four-for, Evans said: “Yeah, obviously it’s nice to finish that way.
“Tanzid (Hasan) has had the better of us in the last few white-ball series.
“He is a nice player and tough to bowl at, but I think the message in the changing room is always just to give your best.
“You never know what’s going to happen and it’s white-ball cricket, so the ball flies. But yeah, it just came together better in the second half,” he said.
Zimbabwe will tomorrow resume their rivalry with Afghanistan with a win all but guaranteeing them a place in Friday’s final.
