Published: Jan 21, 2016, 02:28 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 22, 2016, 02:24 PM (IST)
Bangladesh face Zimbabwe in the fourth Twenty20 International (T20I) at Khulna on Friday. It is the final match of their ongoing four-match T20I series with Bangladesh leading their opponents 2-1. After losing the first two matches despite being very close to victories, Zimbabwe finally registered a win in the third game. Batting first, Zimbabwe posted a competitive total of 187 with Malcom Waller top-scoring with a 23-ball 49. He took charge after Vusi Sibanda’s dismissal on the fifth ball of the 11th over. The opener scored a quick 33-ball 44 before becoming Shakib Al Hasan’s second victim of the match. FULL SCORECARD: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, 4th T20I at Khulna
The first match too could have gone the visitors’ way had the other batsmen batted well following the dismissals of their openers. Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza have been their go-to-men in the recent times. However, depending on just these two will not give them positive results. And that has been witnessed by the team in their recent series. The third match saw contributions from Sibanda, Waller, Sean Williams and others which led to Zimbabwe posting a total above 180.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh had a couple of changes in their side which might have cost them the match. The hosts had to leave out Mustafizur Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim because of injuries, Al-Amin Hossain and Tamim Iqbal were rested, and Shuvagata Hom was dropped. However the four debutants had their skipper Mashrafe Mortaza’s back.
According to ESPNCricinfo, he said, “Four debutants and one addition does make it look that way. We were not up to the mark with our planning on the field. We lost because we didn’t play according to the plans. As a captain I always give importance to winning. We didn’t want to lose, that’s for sure. Everyone was given a specific plan but they couldn’t put it into action.
“We had said before that we will test combinations. We had to make three changes because two players were injured and we rested Al-Amin. We made two more changes. It was clearly going to be a little harder for us with a number of new faces. Rain didn’t do us any favours either,” he said.
Zimbabwe have been going through a tough phase. Having lost to Afghanistan twice definitely must have affected them mentally. Elton Chigumbura dropped himself after Zimbabwe lost the opening match of this series and in his absence Hamilton took over the charge. A win in the fourth and final match that would equalise the series will be a catalyst in boosting their confidence.
Squads:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Al-Amin Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shuvagata Hom, Arafat Sunny, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahman (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Nurul Hasan, Abu Hider.
Zimbabwe: Tendai Chisoro, Luke Jongwe, Elton Chigumbura (c), Hamilton Masakadza, Peter Moor, Taurai Muzarabani, Sikandar Raza, Malcolm Waller, Chamu Chibhabha, Graeme Cremer, Neville Madziva, Wellington Masakadza, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Vusi Sibanda, Brian Vitori, Sean Williams.
Time: 14:30 IST | 15:00 local | 9:00 GMT
(Sakshi Gupta, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a sports fanatic whose mantra in life is “do only what you enjoy.” Her Twitter handle is @sakshi2929)
