Although the start was not good, Zimbabwe had the last laugh. After losing 2 wickets for 6 runs, many thought that the day might be Bangladesh’s. But King Innocent Kaia and Sikandar did not allow that to happen. Their pair of hundreds pushed the Tigers to 303 runs with 10 balls to spare.
Zimbabwe won the toss and sent Bangladesh to bat first at the Harare Sports Ground on Friday. The two opening batsmen got off to a great start. Tamim Iqbal’s innings was cut short trying to increase the pace of runs after fifty. He went back to the king of Sikandar. He scored 62 off 88 balls before being dismissed. At the same time, Tamim became the first Bangladeshi to reach the milestone of 8,000 runs.
Meanwhile, Lytton, who ran rampant on the Zimbabwean bowlers, reached his half-century off 75 balls. Lytton scored 31 runs off the next 14 balls. After taking a single off Sikandar Raja, Liton lay down clutching his hamstring. Couldn’t bat anymore. He was taken to the dressing room on a stretcher. He scored 81 off 89 balls before Hart retired. Mushfiqur Rahim and Anamul Haque Bijay started spinning the wheel of runs after Liton left the field. Among them, Enamul could not use it even after getting life with 71 runs. He returned to Nyauchi after scoring 73 runs off 62 balls. In the end, Bangladesh collected 303 runs after losing two wickets. Mushfiq 52 and Mahmudullah Riyad remained unbeaten on 20 runs. Sikandar Raja and Victor Nyauchi got one wicket each.
Zimbabwe did not get off to a good start in chasing big goals. The hosts lost two wickets for 6 runs. Regis Chakava was bowled on the last ball of the first over of Innis. Mustafizur Rahman’s off-stump delivery was bowled by Chakava on the inside edge. Shariful Islam struck in the next over. Tarisai Musakanda took the catch while picking him up. Wesley Madhevere and Innocent Kiyar tried to handle that shock. That misunderstanding breaks up the pair. Kaia wanted to score 2 runs by playing Mirage’s ball at mid-wicket. Miraj broke the stumps after Taijul’s throw. As a result, Madhevere got run out. After that, Zimbabwe resisted with the bat of Innocent Kaia and Sikandar Raja. Innocent Kaia scored 110 runs off Mosaddek. In the end, Zimbabwe lost by 5 wickets and reached the port of victory. Sikandar Raja remained unbeaten on 135 runs.
