Rishad and Taskin bowl Bangladesh to 2-0 lead against Zimbabwe

Campbell shines on debut

Johnathan Campbell, the son of former Zimbabwe captain Alistair, gave his team something to bowl at with a brisk innings on debut. He was dropped when he was on 1 – wicketkeeper Jaker Ali ran towards square-leg but could not catch the mis-hit off Mahedi Hasan – and went on to hit three sixes and four fours in his innings off 45 off 24 balls, adding 73 for the sixth wicket with Bennett.

Campbell swung Shoriful Islam for Zimbabwe’s first six in the 13th over and Bennett smacked Taskin over midwicket in the 15th. Campbell then hammered Rishad and Saifuddin for sixes in the next two overs; Bennett slammed Shoriful straight in the 18th over.

After Campbell’s dismissal, Bennett gave Zimbabwe a strong finish, hitting a four and a six as they took 18 off the final over. He finished on an unbeaten 44 off 29 balls, and Zimbabwe ended on 138 for 7.

Bangladesh slip up

Bangladesh made a decent start in their chase. Litton Das, struggling for runs in white-ball cricket this year, ramp-scooped Blessing Muzarabani for a six over the wicketkeeper in the second over. His opening partner Tanzid Hasan slugged Ainsley Ndlovu for his first six in the fourth over. But left-arm spinner Ndlovu made the first breakthrough for Zimbabwe in the sixth over when Tanzid mistimed a slightly quicker delivery to the midwicket.

Just when it looked like Bangladesh had the chase in their grasp, things started to happen. Litton was dropped by Luke Jongwe off Raza on 21. Jongwe then made up for the mistake with two wickets in his following over: captain Najmul Hossain Shanto caught at long-and Litton at backward point for 23.

Hridoy gets the job done

Towhid and Jaker Ali steadied the chase before picking up boundaries from the 12th over. Jaker launched Jongwe over midwicket for his first six after Hridoy slapped him through point for four. Hridoy’s finesse came to the fore when he lightly cut Raza for four through third-man.

When Richard Ngarava dismissed Jaker in the 14th over, it brought Bangladesh’s best finishers together. With 33 needed in the last four overs, Hridoy and Mahmudullah brought the chase under control by scoring 16 off the 17th over from Jongwe.

Mahmudullah launched Richard Ngarava over midwicket for a 103m six, and then Hridoy’s dispatched him over fine leg for six more to all but end the game.