Shakib, Mustafizur star on comeback as Bangladesh go 4-0 up against Zimbabwe

Bangladesh off to a flyer

Tanzid went after the bowling almost on his own in the powerplay. He reached 40 off 27 balls with seven fours, leaving Soumya with little to do at the other end. Soumya faced just nine balls during the powerplay, before he opened up in the next two overs. He reverse swept Brian Bennett in the seventh over before lofting Jongwe over the covers.

Big collapse right after big stand

Both openers fell in the 12th over when Johnathan Campbell took a good catch to remove Tanzid, before Soumya missed Jongwe’s slower yorker and was trapped lbw for 41. Despite the solid platform, the rest of the batters simply didn’t give the big crowd a chance to cheer for the rest of the innings.

Towhid Hridoy, the Player of the Match in the last two matches, slogged Sikandar Raza towards deep square leg where, Bennett took a fine catch. Bennett then got into the act with his offspin in the following over. He got the ball to sneak through Shakib’s bat and pad with his first ball, before Najmul Hossain Shanto played all around a tossed-up delivery off the last ball.

Richard Ngarava removed Jaker Ali in the 17th over, before a mix-up between Rishad and Taskin. Taskin hared out of the crease but Rishad sent him back, pointing towards the midwicket fielder; but by then it was too late, and Taskin couldn’t return to his crease in time.

Jongwe, Ngarava and Muzarabani took the last three wickets to fall. In the last over, though, Zimbabwe missed a run-out chance. As Bangladesh’s last pair Tanvir Islam and Mustafizur tried to take an extra run from an overthrow, Mustafizur was well short at the non-striker’s end. Campbell, however, couldn’t parry the ball on to the stumps, much to the packed house’s amusement.

A familiar struggle

In the chase, Zimbabwe once again failed to get off to a good start. Bennett couldn’t replicate his bowling effectiveness with the bat when he fell in the first over. Taskin hurried him into a pull shot, resulting in Shakib taking the catch at mid-on. Sikandar Raza, promoting himself to No. 3, struck four boundaries in the first two overs but lasted only till the fourth over. With Raza on 17, Taskin removed him with a good-length ball that uprooted his middle stump.

Tadiwanashe Marumani, who struck Shakib for two fours in the third over, followed Raza back to the dugout in the fifth over. Shakib trapped him lbw when Marumani missed an attempted slog sweep. When Madande fell in the tenth over, missing his reverse sweep, Rishad got him lbw for 12.

Full report to follow…