Shakib Al Hasan finished with figures of 3-43 off his 10 overs
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Shakib Al Hasan took three wickets and scored 37, while Tamim Iqbal struck an unbeaten 84 as Bangladesh crushed Zimbabwe by eight wickets in Mirpur.
Being put in to bat first, Zimbabwe made an awful start to the match as opener Solomon Mire was stumped off a wide ball from Shakib on the second ball of the match.
After bowling the second ball again, Shakib struck on the next delivery of the over as Craig Ervine was caught by Sabbir Rahman at midwicket for a duck.
Zimbabwe managed to add 28 runs to their score before Hamilton Masakadza was caught behind off the bowling of captain Mashrafe Mortaza for 15.
Things went from bad to worse for the tourists as wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor was caught behind off the bowling of Mustafizur Rahman for 24.
Malcolm Waller was the next to go for 13, but Sikandar Raza and Peter Moor temporarily stemmed the flow of wickets with a 50-run partnership.
Sikandar Raza scored his ninth ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
However, shortly after bringing up his fifty, Raza was run out by Shakib for 52, which came off 99 balls and included two boundaries and two sixes.
Once Raza was gone, Zimbabwe completely collapsed and were bowled out for 170.
Shakib was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Mustafizur and Rubel Hossain snapped up two wickets apiece. As for Mortaza and Sunzamul Islam, they chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 171 to win, Bangladesh got off to a brisk start before Anamul Haque was removed by Raza for 19.
Tamim Iqbal and Shakib steadied things with a 78-run stand before Shakib was trapped lbw off the bowling of Raza for 37.
Shakib was not given out initially, but Zimbabwe decided to review the decision and it worked in their favour as replays showed the ball was pitching in line and going on to hit leg stump.
Tamim and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim mopped up the remaining runs as Bangladesh won with 129 balls to spare.
Tamim Iqbal struck his 39th half-century in ODI cricket
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Tamim finished on 84 off 93 balls, which included eight boundaries and six, while Rahim remained undefeated on 14 off 23 deliveries, which included a boundary and a six.
Raza was the only bowler to take any wickets.
Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer was less than impressed with his side’s performance, and said: “Definitely not enough runs on the board. We didn’t mind batting first, but we needed 240. Raza was decent, so was PJ. The lack of ODIs have hurt us a little, but we do have some experienced players. Guess it never helps when you don’t play enough.
“Sometimes it’s too late to learn in a short tournament like this. We are going to Dubai after this series, and then the World Cup Qualifiers at home. For the next game, we’ll look to get to 40-45 in the first ten overs and then see where we go from there. We’ll be better in the next game.”
Mortaza was delighted to have won, and said: “South Africa was tough. So coming home and winning is always good. We need to play well against Sri Lanka as well. The bowlers did well, we knew there was no sun last few days, so we knew the wicket may play some role. Shakib, brilliant.
“When you’re chasing 171, we just knew that one or two partnerships and we’d be done. Tamim did so well, so did Anamul. Shakib did great batting at No.3. It’s very important to get the first win. Hopefully we can continue.”
Shakib was named Man of the Match, and said: “It was important to get early wickets, because the wicket got better as the game progressed. There was a bit of moisture at the start, so we thought the spinners might get help. And, that’s exactly what happened.
“Tamim’s been terrific in the last few years. Hopefully he can continue doing that. Batting at No. 3 gives you more opportunity to bat more. At No.3, the team expects you to score more runs. New job, new responsibilities. Hopefully, I can carry on.”