Haque struck five boundaries and a six during his knock of 80
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Bangladesh’s opening pair of Anamul Haque and Tamim Iqbal scored 80 and 76 respectively to help their side crush Zimbabwe by 68 runs in the second ODI in Chittagong.
However, Zimbabwe batsman Solomon Mire deserves some credit as he scored a valiant half-century.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza would have been thrilled with his decision to bat first after Haque and Iqbal amassed a 158-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries, before Iqbal was run out by Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura.
Iqbal’s excellent knock of 76 came off 98 balls and included seven boundaries and a six.
Iqbal’s good form with the bat continued
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Shakib Al Hasan failed to trouble the scorers as he was clean bowled by Vusi Sibanda for a golden duck.
Haque went on to score 80 off 110 deliveries, which included five boundaries and a six, before he was brilliantly caught by Sibanda at point off the bowling of Tinashe Panyangara.
Following Haque’s dismissal, Bangladesh’s middle order failed to make any major contributions as they went from 173/3 to 225/7.
However, thanks to Mominul Haque’s unbeaten knock of 33, Bangladesh finished on 251/7 off their 50 overs.
Panyangara and Tafadzwa Kamungozi picked up two wickets apiece, while Sibanda and Tendai Chatara chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 252 to win, Zimbabwe found themselves in all sorts of trouble at 50/4 after Mortaza ripped through the top order with relative ease.
Mire and Regis Chakabva stemmed the bleeding with a 65-run partnership before Chakabva was caught by Mortaza at mid-off off the bowling of Al-Amin Hossain for 32.
Mire ended up making 50 off 79 balls, which included two boundaries, before he was caught by Arafat Sunny at point off the bowling of Al Hasan.
Zimbabwe’s collapse resumed after Mire’s dismissal as Sunny made short work of the tailenders.
Zimbabwe were bowled out for 183 to give Bangladesh a 68-run win and a 2-0 lead in the series.
Sunny finished with a career-best four wickets, while Mortaza snapped up three and Hossain and Al Hasan claimed one wicket each.
Mortaza was named Man of the Match for his figures of 3-34
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Chigumbura was disappointed with his side’s performance, and said: “I thought towards the end of the innings we brought it back by taking those wickets and gave ourselves a good chance of chasing it. I was happy with the first half but the second half was disappointing, especially losing those three wickets in the first few overs. Happy for [Mire] that he scored his maiden fifty. He’s a good young player. If we could have batted 50 overs in these two games, we could have chased down these scores. Unfortunately we are still making the same mistakes.”
Mortaza, who was named Man of the Match, was ecstatic to have taken a 2-0 lead in the series, and said: “It was 100% professional. We didn’t bat well in the end but the score was good enough. We started well with the ball and the spinners as usual bowled well. We lost our momentum after the opening stand but we still ended up with a good total. He [Shakib at No. 3] is one of the best batsmen, we want him to face as many overs as possible.”