Madziva stars for Zim

DHAKA. – Neville Madziva smashed 28 off 19 balls to steer Zimbabwe to an improbable three-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second and final Twenty20 international cricket match in Dhaka yesterday to square the series. And Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura said his side showed good courage and determination to try and win the game. “Credit goes to them who did it today and they did well. If you lose early wickets it’s always a worry but the way Malcolm (Waller) played with (Luke) Jongwe it gave us a solid base and then Madziva finished it. Cricket is played till the last ball and today the guys showed us,” Chigumbura said.

Man-of-the-match Madziva also had this to say for his 19-ball 28 and 2 for 25: “Right now I’m totally speechless I am so happy. I just told myself I was going to watch the ball and hit it. I knew I could hit it and we still had a chance (in the last over). Malcolm (Waller) told me ‘Keep watching the ball’ and that’s what I did. I couldn’t read the slower ball from Mustafizur but after that I just said ‘I’m going to win the match for my country’”.

Waller was voted man-of-the-series and said it was a great feeling to go back 1-1, taking a win in the series. “I just went out there and enjoyed myself. We needed to build partnerships and there was a good one with Jongwe and then Madziva finished it off in the end. We know that we can do it and we need to be more positive every game and results will come.”

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said: “That was not a bat wicket to bat on, but we didn’t execute our plans. The bowlers bowled well but it wasn’t good enough. We don’t pay much T20s and hopefully we’ll come up with good form in BPL before Asia Cup and T20 World Cup. Tamim and Imrul started well but we got out while playing too many shots, instead of building partnerships. It wasn’t a good total to defend but bowlers bowled really well. Al-Ami did really well and Mustafizur once again, hopefully we’ll keep it up.”

But credit goes to Zimbabwe’s Madziva and his teammates who were pretty chuffed to win even if it was the last match of the tour.

Needing 18 runs off the final over, Nasir Hossain snared the wicket of Waller (40) with the first delivery, and the result seemed a foregone conclusion.

But no-one told Madziva, and he blasted a six, took two runs, a four and finished it off with a maximum to seal victory.

Earlier, Anamul Haque top-scored with 47 as Bangladesh made 135-9.

Anamul held the hosts’ innings together amid free-fall of wickets at the other end, hitting just three fours in his 51-ball knock.

Pacer Tinashe Panyangara claimed 3-30 for Zimbabwe, who are seeking to end their tour on a high after losing the opening Twenty20 match on Friday and all three one-day internationals.

Legspinner Graeme Cremer and paceman Madziva picked two wickets each, giving away 21 and 25 runs respectively.

Bangladesh started confidently after skipper Mashrafe Mortaza elected to bat as Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes put on 34 runs in the opening stand.

Tamim miscued a pull shot off Madziva to give a catch to Sean Williams at long on for 21 and Kayes fell in the next over to Tendai Chisoro for 10.

Zimbabwe then made regular breakthroughs to keep the hosts in check.

Anamul was run out in the final over as Bangladesh settled for their lowest total in the last five Twenty20 internationals.

Zimbabwe had made a poor start with the bat, like they did in the first T20 and all three ODIs on this tour. Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams got out to the first two deliveries sent down by Al-Amin Hossain. Raza was well caught by Mushfiqur after the ball took the inside edge. Williams was done in by an inswinger, which sent the crowd into frenzy.

In the fifth over Regis Chakabva skied Mustafizur’s second ball after nearly popping a return-catch off the first one (which also broke his bat). Zimbabwe further slipped in the eighth over when Craig Ervine was run out after a mix-up with Luke Jongwe. Soon after, captain Elton Chigumbura was out for a duck and it seemed Bangladesh were well on top.

But the Waller-Jongwe partnership changed the momentum for Zimbabwe. They added 55 runs quickly with Waller once again being the enforcer, hitting three sixes in the arc between wide long-on and midwicket. Zimbabwe needed 84 off the last 10 overs and the sixth-wicket pair picked up 41 runs in the next five overs to keep them in the hunt.

Jongwe was dismissed when he couldn’t get Al-Amin away in the 16th over, getting caught at square leg for 34 off 38 balls. Mustafizur then bowled a telling third over, the 17th of the innings, getting five dot balls and conceding just three runs.

It left Zimbabwe needing 34 runs off the last three overs, and finally Madziva connected properly. He struck fours over short fine-leg and backward point. Ten runs came from this over and the 19th over started with Waller flapping Mustafizur over fine leg for a boundary, all building up to a tense final over.

Earlier, Mashrafe Mortaza chose to bat, Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes got Bangladesh off to a fast start, hitting three fours and two sixes between them in the first 3.1 overs. Tamim struck the sixes off Madziva, but fell to the same bowler, caught at long-on by Chigumbura. Next over it was Kayes’ turn to head to the pavilion after he was brilliantly caught at point by Williams, who dived full length to his left to pluck the low square-drive. And Bangladesh’s run rate quickly slowed.

Mushfiqur tried to put the pressure back at the Zimbabwe but he fell to a catch at long-leg while slog sweeping, and Sabbir Rahman and Anamul Haque added 39 runs but used up over six overs before Sabbir was given leg-before. Most of the rest were out trying to get the big shots away, with the Bangladesh innings becoming even more sluggish.

Anamul batted till the final over to get 47 off 51 balls with three boundaries, two of which came in the 16th over through inside-out shots over cover.

Otherwise it was an innings that had hardly any fluency – he played out 18 dot balls. Tinashe Panyangara was, for the umpteenth time, the best bowler on show taking 3 for 30 in his four overs, while there were two each for Madziva and legspinner Graeme Cremer. Zimbabwe allowed the home batsmen only only 33 runs in the last five overs, taking five wickets. Eventually, that made the difference. – AFP-Cricinfo.