Shakib Al Hasan took a five-wicket haul and Liton Das hit a brilliant century as Bangladesh continued their good tour of Zimbabwe with a crushing 155-run win in the first ODI.
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Shakib Al Hasan’s magnificent five-wicket haul, his ninth in ODIs and Liton Das’ century helped Bangladesh continue their dominance of Zimbabwe. After the sparkling display in the one-off Test, Bangladesh continued their great tour of Zimbabwe as they hammered the hosts by 155 runs in the first ODI in Harare on Friday. It was a thorough performance by the Bangladesh players as they showed their mettle against a team that continues to struggle.
Zimbabwe chose to bowl and they immediately had Bangladesh on the ropes. Tamim Iqbal fell for a seven-ball duck thanks to Blessing Muzarabani. Shakib and Liton tried to build a solid stand but Muzarabani got the massive wicket of Shakib for 19. Mohammad Mithun looked in great touch with a couple of boundaries. Just as a partnership was building, Tendai Chatara dismissed Mithun for 19. Mossaddek Hossain struggled and he was sent for a 15-ball five by Richard Ngarava. But, Liton held firm and he staged a revival.
Mahmudullah has endured a pretty perplexing tour so far. He hit 150 in the Test and immediately announced his retirement from the format. No one ever knew what was the reason for announcing the decision mid-way through the Test. However, he was not bothered by the situation. Liton and Mahmudullah slowly rebuilt the innings.
No boundaries were hit for five overs but Liton broke the shackles with a four off Ryan Burl. Liton was reprieved by no DRS reviews in the ODI series as he had edged a cut but the umpire did not spot it. Liton notched up his fifty by drilling Burl down to long off for a boundary.
Mahmudullah showed his intent with a six off Wesley Madhevere. Liton continued to lead a charmed life, getting dropped on 74 by Madhevere off Muzarabani. However, Luke Jongwe broke the 94-run stand by dismissing Mahmudullah for 33. Liton found the boundaries and notched up his fourth century with a flick to the leg side off Madhevere.
Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan struck some big blows, with Afif almost nearing his fifty. But, some splendid bowling from Jongwe in the death overs meant Bangladesh could muster 276/9.
Zimbabwe started disastrously with Tadiwanashe Marumani being dismissed by Saifuddin for a duck on debut. Madhevere was sent back by a nip-backer from Taskin Ahmed and Bangladesh was on top. Brendan Taylor and Dion Myers were looking to break the shackles with a couple of fours. Myers hit two fours off Shoriful Islam while Taylor hit a couple off Shakib.
But, Myers was dismissed by Shoriful as Zimbabwe struggled. Regis Chakabva showed his intent and got going with two fours. However, when Shakib sent back Taylor, that opened the floodgates. Chakabva took Zimbabwe to 100 with a six off Mehidy Hasan. But, Zimbabwe suffered an epic collapse in which they lost six wickets for 16 runs.
Shakib dismissed Burl and Jongwe was run-out. The left-hander got his third when Muzarabani was trapped LBW. Chakabva notched up his fifty with a six off Shoriful but the end came quickly. Shakib sent back Chakabva for 54 and ended the innings with his fifth by sending back Ngarava for 0. Bangladesh will play Zimbabwe in the second ODI at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday.
