adminon which Zimbabwe built their success, to win the game by seven wickets and take the series 2-1.
Sibanda found himself on 99, chasing a second ODI ton, but his partner Sean Williams decided to hand him the honour to hit the winning runs, and get his century, in a fine display of sportsmanship.
But while Williams could expected to play ball with his teammate, no favours were expected from Bangladesh and they could have spoiled the day by bowling a wide to end a game they had been set to lose for some time.
But Robiul Islam was professional enough to give it a go and Sibanda glanced him, down the slip cordon, for a four for the century and winning runs.
“I was not really sure of their intentions because they could have bowled a wide but I think they were very professional in that they kept the game going and that showed true sportsmanship,” Sibanda told The Herald.
“They had already lost the game, they had nothing to lose but that was a sign of true sportsmanship.
“Unfortunately at the end of the game the score board was wrong, we thought we needed six runs so we were not under pressure at all, but after that boundary by Sean we found out that we needed one more run, it was just something else.
“I had to get that 100 and that is when I told myself that I had to keep calm after realising that we just needed one more run and it worked out well.”
Sibanda paid tribute to his team mates who he said supported him well to his century.
“Definitely, it means a lot to me given that the hard work I have put in and it has finally paid off and it has been a long journey for me really and after being dropped for the first ODI it wasn’t easy for me to come back,” said Sibanda.
“But I had to keep my head up and go straight into the game with this chance that I had.
“I definitely hope this is the beginning of more hundreds to come and I just have to keep my head up and keep working on my game.
“Today (Wednesday) was pretty much a learning curve for me to keep myself calm and not to try and do too many things and keep my game simple.”
Williams has also been consistent in his batting over the last two ODIs here, having first scored a career-high unbeaten 78 in his match-winning partnership in the second ODI as Zimbabwe levelled the series.
And on Wednesday he was also part of the match-winning partnership with Sibanda where he again came in with a fine performance.
“It takes practice, a lot of practice in a consistent way, and it works for me because I put myself under a lot of pressure in practice,” said Williams.
Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor said it was a tough fight against the Tigers.
“It has always been difficult beating Bangladesh in Bulawayo so getting the win here is going to give us that belief, that push forward that we can play well in Bulawayo, but there is still two Twenty20s to go,” said Taylor.
“They (Bangladesh) always respond well and I think credit has to go to our bowlers, the top order and the middle order batmen, they were more mature in their innings and I think we needed that first loss to get that good kick on the back side.
“Probably losing the first game the way we did brought the best out of us, our bowlers were different bowlers after that first game they really put the Bangladesh batmen under pressure in the first period and made it difficult for them to score.”
Online Reporter