Tamim Iqbal (right) and Shakib Al Hasan scored 76 and 51 respectively
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Tamim Iqbal continued his run of fine form with a brilliant 76 as Bangladesh won their third successive match after beating Zimbabwe by 91 runs.
With his knock, Tamim became the first Bangladesh player to score 6,000 ODI runs.
Choosing to bat first, Bangladesh were dealt an early blow as opener Anamul Haque was given out lbw off the bowling of Kyle Jarvis for one run.
Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan made up for it with a 106-run partnership, during which Shakib brought up his half-century.
However, shortly after doing so, Shakib was stumped by Brendan Taylor off the bowling of Sikandar Raza. Shakib’s solid knock of 51 came off 80 balls and included six boundaries.
Mahmudullah only made two runs, while Tamim went on to score 76 off 105 deliveries, which included six boundaries, before was stumped off the bowling of Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer.
Bangladesh completely collapsed after Tamim’s dismissal as they went from 163/5 to 196/9. Ultimately, they ended up finishing on 216/9 off their 50 overs.
Cremer was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Jarvis snapped up three. As for Raza and Tendai Chatara, they chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 217 to win, Zimbabwe found themselves in trouble from the get-go as Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib carved through their top order to leave them reeling at 34/4.
Zimbabwe managed to double their score before Peter Moor was trapped lbw off the bowling of Sunzamul Islam for 14.
Malcolm Waller suffered the same fate the very next ball. Despite opting for a review, it didn’t save him from having to trudge back to the pavilion.
Cremer provided some resistance with a 31-ball 23, while Raza was Zimbabwe’s top-scorer with his gutsy knock of 39.
However, once Raza was clean bowled by Mustafizur Rahman, Bangladesh finished things off quickly and Zimbabwe ended up being skittled out for 125.
Shakib was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Mortaza, Sunzamul and Mustafizur took two wickets apiece. As for Rubel Hossain, he claimed one.
Cremer was disappointed with his side’s performance, and said: “Difficult surface here, all of them look similar, but they all play different. Toss wasn’t too crucial. We went about really well with the ball, were pleased with the 216 we restricted them to. But our batting was bad.
“It was nice to get Tamim out (on his own bowling), and we did claw it back nicely, especially since we bowled them out. I thought we gave Bangladesh some soft wickets. It’s always tough to recover after a few early wickets.
“We’ve enjoyed the tri-series so far. We’ve brought some youngsters like Muzarabani. We hope to make the final, but all in all, we’ve enjoyed our trip here, and hopefully the youngsters have learnt something.”
Mortaza was pleased that his side maintained their perfect record, and said: “We thought it’d be a 280-300 surface at the toss, but it was a difficult pitch to bat on. Tamim and Shakib were brilliant and although we did lose a bunch of wickets in the middle, our Nos. 9, 10 and 11 added 45-odd runs together. Good thing that they are working with the coaches.
“Fizz has been practicing with the bat, and it paid off for him. When we came out to bowl, we wanted professionalism from the boys, and they all turned up.
“The way boys are going, it’s very good. It’s important to keep the intensity and momentum – hopefully we keep it for the rest of the tournament.”
Tamim was named Man of the Match, and said: “It wasn’t the easiest wicket. On this kind of wicket, you just need to be patient and hit the loose balls. I thought my dismissal wasn’t the great, should’ve batted through. A score of 230-240 would’ve been ideal. Even thought we weren’t getting boundaries, we wanted to rotate the strike. Shakib played great and so did Mushfiqur. Always a proud moment to break records (most ODI runs in a venue and first Bangladeshi to 6000 runs).”