Dhaka [Bangladesh], May 10 (ANI): Bangladesh’s clinical bowling spells helped them walk away with a 5-run victory over Zimbabwe and make the scoreline 4-0 on Friday at the Shere Bangla National Stadium here in Dhaka.
In the 4th T20I, Johnathan Campbell once again stood out with the bat for Zimbabwe with his 31 off 27 deliveries. Apart from Brian Bennett (0) the rest of the batters got off to a start but failed to convert into a big knock.
Taskin Ahmed struck twice early in the game while Mustafizur Rahman removed middle-order batters to keep Bangladesh in control.
Shakib Al Hasan claimed Campbell’s wicket to put Zimbabwe in a peculiar situation. Faraz Akram came in smashed a towering six and lost his wicket to Mustafizur.
Wellington Masakadza carried the final hope of victory for Zimbabwe. He struck two fours and a maximum to keep Zimbabwe close to the required rate.
With 14 needed in the final over, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto handed the ball to Shakib. On the first ball, Shanto dropped a sitter giving away to lifeline to Masakadza.
Blessing Muzarabani struck a maximum to bring the equation to 7 in 3. Shakib took back-to-back wickets on the next two deliveries to seal a 5-run win for Bangladesh.
Earlier in the innings, after being put to bat, Bangladesh suffered an unprecedented collapse after the opening pair Tanzid Tamim and Soumya Sarkar put on a 101-run stand.
Tanzid found the fence with ease while Sarkar struggled to find the right timing. Tanzid set the tone of the game in the powerplay and Bangladesh looked well set for a 175-plus total on a surface which seemed to play in the favour of the spinners.
After raising his bat for fifty, Tanzid lost his wicket to Luke Jongwe which sparked a huge collapse.
Jongwe and Brian Bennett led the charge by luring Bangladesh batters to play a couple of poor shots.
Shakib Al Hasan’s return to T20I after a year ended on a disappointing note as Bennett castled him for a score of 1(3).
The middle and the lower middle order did not show the much-needed composure to keep Bangladesh’s innings from falling apart.
One after another Bangladesh batters fell like a house of cards as they bundled out for 143 on the final ball of the final over.
Brief Score: Bangladesh 143 (Tanzid Hasan 52, Soumya Sarkar 41; L Jongwe 3-20) vs Zimbabwe 138 (Johnathan Campbell 31; Shakib Al Hasan 4-35, Mustafizur Rahman 3-19). (ANI)
