Bangladesh went down fighting against hosts Zimbabwe as they lost first Twenty20 international by six runs at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo Saturday.
At one point the tourists were in a comfortable position chasing 169 with the score on 120 for the loss of one wicket in the 14th over. However poor shot selection and sloppy cricket by the batsmen saw the side go down in the first of match series while also heaping more pressure on the outgoing captain Mushfiqur Rahim.
The start was shaky for the visitors after they lost opening batsman Tamim Iqbal in the first over. In 2011 Tamim called Brian Vitori “ordinary” and lost his middle stump to what could only be called an ordinary shot with a significant gap between bat and pad.
At the other end debutant Shamsur Rahman steadied the boat after the early loss. But his selection ahead of Mohammed Ashraful proved to be a success as added 53 of 48 balls in a 118 run partnership with Shakib al Hasan. Shakib who scored 65 of 40 was unconvincing at times as he continuously made room to carve the pacers over the infield, but later settled in with an impressive selection of drives and cuts.
Their dismissals in the 14th provided a glimpse of what was to come. Quick wickets fell as the batsmen seemingly gifted their wickets to the home team. Mushfiqur Rahim held things together as Nasir, Mahmudullah and Ziaur fell in a frantic few overs. Runouts and mistimed slogs condemned the visitors to defeat with only the captain standing between Bangladesh and a loss.
Mushfiq kept the hosts in the hunt with a six of the penultimate ball of the 19th over and with 10 needed of the last 6 balls it looked like Bangladesh could pull off a great escape. Unfortunately that was not to be with the caption falling of the first ball of the last over after he clipped a low full toss straight down deep square leg’s throat.
The game ended with Panyangara dismissing Razzak of the last ball of the innings to condemn Bangladesh to a narrow six run loss.
Earlier it was Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor won the toss for the fifth time in a row and went into bat first. The wicket was troublesome in the ODIs but not Saturday. With the game starting late in the afternoon the wicket was already a feather bed with loads in store for the batsman.
Opening batsman Hamilton Masakadza proved the theory right scoring 59 off 48 hitting four boundaries and a six. Captain Taylor added another 40 off 25 to the tally to guide the innings to a competitive score. The batsmen are never hesitant to play shots in this format of the game and that allowed Bangladesh to take 5 wickets.
In the end it was Zimbabwe who held their nerve better as Bangladesh choked in what looked like an easy chase till the 14th over. The tour cannot end fast enough for the hosts as they go into the final T20I looking to avoid another embarrassing defeat.
