Bangladesh thumped Zimbabwe by 68 runs in the second One-Day International (ODI) played in Chittagong on Sunday. Bangladesh lead the ODI series 2-0 post this win. Varun Arora looks back at the crucial events of the match.
The 158-run opening stand: In the first ODI played in Chittagong, Bangladesh lost quick wickets and almost exposed the lower middle-order in the early overs. When Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque came out to bat on Sunday, they made sure they didn’t play reckless shots. The start was silent, at one point it seemed that they both are taking it too slow but those occasional boundaries kept the scorecard moving. The run-rate hovered around four and they both continued to add runs and reached individual half-centuries. They made sure the foundation for a big total was laid.
Shakib Al Hasan at No 3: The stage was set, Chittagong crowd was waiting for him to arrive and smack everything out the park. Tamim was dismissed and in came Shakib at No 3 much to the delight to the fans at Chittagong. Vusi Sibanda was deployed to bowl the 34th over. Sibanda sprayed in a good length delivery outside off which was inside edged by Shakib onto the wickets. The crowd was silenced, seeing the centurion from the last match going out of park on the first ball for a nought.
Mominul Haque’s 33 off 23: The record opening partnership forced all the different changes in the Bangladesh batting line-up. Mominul Haque who was supposed to bat at No.3 came in to bat at No. 7. After a record opening stand from Tamim and Anamul, the middle-order collapsed in a jiffy, reducing Bangladesh to a 225 for seven after 46.5 overs. Mominul stood there in the middle and played an aggressive cameo to take Bangladesh’s score past 250.
Mashrafe Mortaza’s early blows: The Bangladesh captain struck only in the first over of the Zimbabwe innings to dismiss Hamilton Masakadza for a duck. He struck again in the seventh over to remove Vusi Sibanda who was looking dangerous with his attacking approach. His final victim was Sikandar Raza who went back in the ninth over of the innings. Mortaza returned with the figures of 8-0-34-3.
Solomon Mire’s maiden ODI fifty: The 25-year-old all-rounder made his international debut in the first ODI against Bangladesh and hit an impressive fifty in this game. Mire came on to bat at No 5 when the conditions were threatening and survival was tough. Zimbabwe was losing wickets at regular intervals. Mire stood tall and played freely in the alien conditions. He completed his fifty off 78 balls but was dismissed later by Shakib.
Arafat Sunny’s first four-for in international cricket: Arafat Sunny bowled an unbelievable 45th over. Zimbabwe were stuck at 181 for seven after the end of 44 overs. Sunny who had earlier picked the wicket of Brendan Taylor came on to bowl. He clean bowled Tinashe Panyangara off the first ball of the over. John Nyumbu was the next one to go on the fourth ball as he tried to cut but missed it all together and the ball rattled the stumps. Tafadzwa Kamungozi was the last victim as the ball crashed into the stumps.
(Varun Arorais a reporter with CricketCountry. He started as a medium-fast bowler, converted to an opening batsman but finally settled with his passion of writing about the game. His Twitter handle is @varunjgd)
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