Zimbabwe 271 for 8 (Ervine 93, Taylor 81, Taskin 3-44) beat Bangladesh 172 (Tanzid 46, Evans 4-45) by 99 runs
But it was Raza’s fellow 40s club members – Ervine and Taylor – who made the big difference. The Zimbabwe innings was indebted to the experienced duo after they added 150 runs for the fourth wicket. This came after Zimbabwe slipped to 24 for 3 in the seventh over. Taskin Ahmed removed Zimbabwe’s top three in a masterclass of a new-ball spell. He gave Brian Bennett a working over for the first five balls of the match before removing him with the sixth delivery.
Taskin had Ben Curran with a similar delivery but that went the other way to the left-handed opener, before debutant Tafadzwa Tsiga skied a top-edged pull. Ervine and Taylor rather than panicking, found regular boundaries as they looked to rebuild the Zimbabwe innings.
They attacked the Bangladesh pacers with an initial string of boundaries, before employing the sweep to good effect against the spinners. Ervine in particular struck with the reverse-sweep numerous times.
He added a second wicket when Raza fumbled with a sweep, to be caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan. Wessley Madhevere and Ervine struck seven fours in quick succession before both fell in a short burst too. Ervine was caught behind seven short of a century and Zimbabwe’s wheels started to come off until Nyamhuri and Masakadza blasted 37 runs for the unbroken eighth wicket.
Tanzid Hasan gave Bangladesh a superb start, hammering nine fours and a six in his 46 off 38 balls. He was brilliant square of the wicket as usual, cutting and square-driving as he pleased, while bringing out his favorite flicks and pulls too. Bangladesh though lost Soumya Sarkar in the seventh over when he edged Muzarabani to second slip where Bennett took a fine catch.
Tanzid had a life when he was on 46, as Muzarabani misjudged a catch at deep third. Next ball though, Tanzid guided the ball into substitute fielder Ryan Burl’s lap. One ball later, Brad Evans burst one through Najmul Hossain Shanto’s defenses, as Bangladesh slipped to 68 for 3 in the tenth over.
When Raza removed his opposite number Towhid Hridoy in the 17th over, Zimbabwe took control of the game. Raza trapped Hridoy lbw for 13 with a delivery that drifted back into the batter’s back leg. Mosaddek Hossain fell lbw to Wellington Masakadza, who used the left-arm orthadox’s angle superbly with a delivery that held its line after angling in to the right-hander.
Masakadza added a second when he had Saif caught behind for 26, before Evans had a double-wicket over when he was brought back into the attack. Interestingly, Raza was about to bowl the 28th over before changing his mind at the last minute. Evans removed both Nurul and Shoriful Islam with the short ball, with both batters holing out in the deep.
Raza picked up his 100th wicket in ODIs when Rishad Hossain holed out at long-on. Rishad struck four boundaries in a Nyamhuri over, as he made 23 off 33 balls. Evans ended things with Mustafizur Rahman’s caught and bowled, immediately after which he offered the Bangladesh No. 11 a handshake.
Mohammad Isam is Cricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
