Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets

Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the fifth game of the five-match T20 series at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka’s Mirpur on Sunday (May 12).

Brian Bennett’s all-round brilliance and Sikandar Raza’s captain’s knock lifted Zimbabwe over the line as they’ve got a win after losing four straight matches in the series.

Being asked to bat first, Bangladesh were in trouble earlier on. Losing their gun openers Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Soumya Sarkar cheaply. While Towhid Hridoy too fell and Brian Bennett were breathing fire as he picked up Tamim and Towhid Hridoy.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto took the onus on his shoulders and experienced campaigner Mahmudullah too joined him. Mahmudullah played the accelerator role, while Shanto supported him being the second fiddle. The duo added 69 runs off 45 balls. Shanto departed scoring 36 off 28 balls, while the latter one brought up a fifty and scored 54 off 44 balls.

At the backend of the innings, Jaker Ali Anik flourished the innings as his blitz innings of 24 off 11 balls helped Bangladesh post 157-6 on the board.

Brian Bennett and Muzarabani were the standout bowlers for the visitors as both of them shared two wickets apiece. 

In reply, Zimbabwe started rapidly. Courtesy Brian Bennett as he saw a flurry of boundaries to take Zimbabwe to 36 after 3 overs. Shakib came and gave a crucial breakthrough after picking up T Marumani. But there was no stopping for Bennett. He brought up a brilliant fifty and scored a fantastic 70 off 49 balls, he got partnered up with Sikandar Raza. Raza was struggling on 26 off 25 balls, he eventually paced up his innings.

Zimbabwe needed 24 off the last three overs and Raza whacked Mohammad Saifuddin for 19 runs off the over to reduce the target to 5 runs from the last two overs. Which Zimbabwe eventually chased down with 8 wickets to go and 9 balls to spare.

Captain Raza was unbeaten on 72* off 46 balls to help his side chase down the total.

Earlier, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and sent Bangladesh to bat first. Bangladesh managed to score 157 runs with loss of six wickets in 20 overs.

However, Bangladesh secured the series by winning three consecutive matches. The hosts won the next match as well.