HARARE - Ryan Burl came closest to hitting six sixes in an over, but his 34-run assault on Nasum Ahmed was the inflexion point in Zimbabwe’s stunning come-from-behind win over Bangladesh.
The hosts, who were reduced to 67/6 after batting first, were propped up by the southpaw’s 28-ball 54 to a total of 156 which proved to be beyond Bangladesh’s reach. The 10-run victory marked Zimbabwe’s first T20I series win over Bangladesh. Zimbabwe’s fortunes swung wildly from one end to the other after Craig Ervine elected to bat. Regis Chakabva hit the first ball of the game from Mustafizur Rahman for four in an ominous portent of things to come for the visitors. True to the spirit of that first ball, the first three overs saw Chakbava and Ervine hit 29.
Chakabva fell to the first ball from left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, the extra bounce offsetting his attempt to hit over extra cover. The other spinner, Mahedi Hasan, then prized out Wesley Madhevere and Sikandar Raza off successive deliveries and Zimbabwe were 45/3 in the PowerPlay. That soon became 56/5 and then 67/6 at the end of the 13th over with the hosts staring down the barrel. It was then that Burl and Jongwe joined forces. It was the latter that set the counter-punch in motion by hitting a pair of boundaries off Hasan Mahmud in the 14th over.
Nothing though could have foretold the Burl assault in the following over. Nasum, who had struck with his first ball, returned and saw this first delivery launched over long on and outside the ground. The next ball, dragged down, was swivel-pulled into the grass banks beyond deep mid-wicket. Deliveries three and four disappeared over mid-wicket for sixes too, forcing Mosaddek and Mahmudullah to form a three-man conference with Nasum. The spinner bowled full and wide outside off-stump, the first beat wide long-off but bounced just in front of the ropes, the next cleared it to make it a 34-run over.
Burl got to his half-century off 24 balls while Jongwe hit 35 off 20 as the five overs between 14 and 18 produced 79 runs. Bangladesh never got into gear in their chase of 156 once Victor Nyauchi dismissed openers Litton Das and Parvez Emon in his first two overs. The visitors got to an identical 45/3 at the end of the PowerPlay and were stymied thereafter by the spin pair of Ervine and Raza.
There was a brief fight back from Mahmudullah, who made a run-a-ball 27 and a more sprightly knock from Afif Hossain, who made an unbeaten 39*. But there were not enough contributions from the rest, and none substantial enough to match what Burl and Jongwe managed for the hosts.
Scores in brief
ZIMBABWE 156 for 8 (Burl 54, Jongwe 35, Mahedi 2-28) beat BANGLADESH 146 for 8 (Afif 39*, Mahmudullah 27, Nyauchi 3-29) by 10 runs.
The hosts, who were reduced to 67/6 after batting first, were propped up by the southpaw’s 28-ball 54 to a total of 156 which proved to be beyond Bangladesh’s reach. The 10-run victory marked Zimbabwe’s first T20I series win over Bangladesh. Zimbabwe’s fortunes swung wildly from one end to the other after Craig Ervine elected to bat. Regis Chakabva hit the first ball of the game from Mustafizur Rahman for four in an ominous portent of things to come for the visitors. True to the spirit of that first ball, the first three overs saw Chakbava and Ervine hit 29.
Chakabva fell to the first ball from left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, the extra bounce offsetting his attempt to hit over extra cover. The other spinner, Mahedi Hasan, then prized out Wesley Madhevere and Sikandar Raza off successive deliveries and Zimbabwe were 45/3 in the PowerPlay. That soon became 56/5 and then 67/6 at the end of the 13th over with the hosts staring down the barrel. It was then that Burl and Jongwe joined forces. It was the latter that set the counter-punch in motion by hitting a pair of boundaries off Hasan Mahmud in the 14th over.
Nothing though could have foretold the Burl assault in the following over. Nasum, who had struck with his first ball, returned and saw this first delivery launched over long on and outside the ground. The next ball, dragged down, was swivel-pulled into the grass banks beyond deep mid-wicket. Deliveries three and four disappeared over mid-wicket for sixes too, forcing Mosaddek and Mahmudullah to form a three-man conference with Nasum. The spinner bowled full and wide outside off-stump, the first beat wide long-off but bounced just in front of the ropes, the next cleared it to make it a 34-run over.
Burl got to his half-century off 24 balls while Jongwe hit 35 off 20 as the five overs between 14 and 18 produced 79 runs. Bangladesh never got into gear in their chase of 156 once Victor Nyauchi dismissed openers Litton Das and Parvez Emon in his first two overs. The visitors got to an identical 45/3 at the end of the PowerPlay and were stymied thereafter by the spin pair of Ervine and Raza.
There was a brief fight back from Mahmudullah, who made a run-a-ball 27 and a more sprightly knock from Afif Hossain, who made an unbeaten 39*. But there were not enough contributions from the rest, and none substantial enough to match what Burl and Jongwe managed for the hosts.
Scores in brief
ZIMBABWE 156 for 8 (Burl 54, Jongwe 35, Mahedi 2-28) beat BANGLADESH 146 for 8 (Afif 39*, Mahmudullah 27, Nyauchi 3-29) by 10 runs.
