Tigers thump Zimbabwe after combined effort

Bangladesh bowlers produced a combined effort to restrict Zimbabwe to 125 and register a 91-run win in the tri-nation ODI series at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka Tuesday. With the victory, the host maintained their supremacy in the triangular series which also involves Sri Lanka. Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal boosted Bangladesh’s batting on the day hitting his third consecutive fifty in the series to finally bag a man of the match award. On the other hand, the win took Bangladesh captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza to the top of the list of the most successful Tigers skipper in ODIs. With 29 wins, former captain Habibul Bashar had held the record but Mashrafe now has 30 victories to his name. Host Bangladesh with two back to back wins and bonus points had already confirmed a berth in the grand finale when they took on Zimbabwe at the home of cricket in Mirpur. The win therefore boosted the Tigers' morale ahead of the final. While for Zimbabwe, their fate now hangs in the balance. They will depend on the result of the final league game of the series, between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the same venue Thursday. The African nation will be praying for a Sri Lanka defeat in order to advance to the final courtesy a better run rate. Bangladesh spinners yet again made the difference against Zimbabwe. In-form all-rounder Shakib al Hasan once again played the key role as the left-arm spinner led from the front with three wickets while his young partner Sanjamul Islam, the only change in the Bangladesh XI, picked two scalps. Shakib in the seventh over of Zimbabwe’s chase initiated a blow as he removed opener Solomon Mire and the veteran Brandon Taylor in the last two balls of the over to take himself on the threshold of a hat-trick.

---

Also read: In-form Tamim heaps praise on Shakib, Tigers tail-enders

---

With Mashrafe bowling the next over, Shakib came to the attack once again. With No 3 batsman Craig Ervine on strike, Shakib had two slips and a short leg to try out for his maiden ODI hat-trick. But the Zimbabwe batsman denied the Bangladesh all-rounder the feat as the good length bowl passed with an outside edge. Shakib as his third wicket in the game removed No 10 batsman Tendai Chatara in the 36th over, thus ending Zimbabwe’s chase and clinch a victory for Bangladesh with bonus point. The Bangladesh pacers maintained their contribution in the series but on the day, the Tigers lower-order batters had their say too. The group had come to the series with the stress of a dreadful recent past. The group since the start of the national camp for the series went through a different schooling, which included sessions with the bat and the results are showing. Bangladesh pacers in the shape of Mashrafe, Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman shared five wickets. Bangladesh had struggled against spin as well when they went out to bat after winning the toss. The home side lost opener Anamul Haque in the third over of the innings. The dismissal saw Shakib arrive to the middle and with Tamim on the other end, the second wicket partnership added 106. Shakib after scoring 51 went out of the crease to all-rounder Sikandar Raza off the first ball but only ended up missing the line of the ball and see wicket-keeper Taylor dismantle the wickets. Tamim however, soon helped himself to his 41st ODI half-century and in the process, registered two milestones. The left-handed batsman became the highest scorer in a single venue in ODIs and then when he moved to 66, emerged as the first Bangladeshi to reach 6,000 ODI runs. Tamim missed yet another ODI century after getting stumped for 76 off 105 balls off a Graeme Cremer googly. Following a middle-order debacle the Tigers were reeling on 168 for seven in 41.2 overs but an unexpected cameo from the tail-enders pushed the total to 216 for the loss of nine wickets in their stipulated 50 overs. Sanjamul, Mustafizur and Rubel added 46 runs together in the last 7.4 overs to frustrate Zimbabwe and get the Tigers to a respectable total.

---

Also read: Fingers crossed for Jarvis, Zimbabwe

---

BRIEF SCOREZimbabwe 125 in 36.3 overs (Shakib 3/34, Mustafizur 2/16) lost to Bangladesh 216/9 (Tamim 76, Shakib 51) by 91 runs MOST SUCCESSFUL TIGERS ODI CAPTAINSPlayer Matches WinsMashrafe 53 30Bashar 69 29Shakib 50 23Mushfiq 37 11Ashraful 38 8 POINTS TABLETeams M W L Pts NRRBangladesh 3 3 0 15 2.191Zimbabwe 4 1 3 4 -0.804Sri Lanka 3 1 2 4 -0.989