LIVE – Zimbabwe v Bangladesh – Zimbabwe Twenty20 Triangular Series (4th Match) – First innings Update – Masakadza powers Zimbabwe to 149–run total
Zimbabwe once again relied heavily on the heroics of Hamilton Masakadza to reach a total of 149 runs by the end of their innings during the 4th ongoing match of the Zimbabwe Twenty20 Triangular Series at the Harare Sports Club today on June 21.
The Rhodesians went into the match with a huge psychological advantage – yet unbeaten in the series, the host team’s last victory was a 29-run win over South Africa on June 20. Bangladesh, however, are floundering at the bottom of the series points table,
and have yet to win a single match.
Luck favoured Zimbabwe from the start as captain Brendan Taylor won the toss and elected to bat first - a decision which has served skippers well in the series so far, with the surface being prone to decay as the day wears on. Zimbabwe went in with an unchanged
side, but Bangladesh made some minor adjustments, bringing Tamim Iqbal back into the squad in place of Jahurul Islam.
Vusi Sibanda (12) and Masakadza (56) opened the innings or their side, but unlike their 114-run opening stand in the previous match, the pair could only manage 22 before Sibanda was run out by Abdur Razzak in the fourth over.
Masakadza’s next partnership, this time with skipper Taylor (27) proved to be more successful, with and yielded a combined total of 48 runs, which got their side up to 70. Zimbabwe lost Taylor in the 9th over, after he scooped a delivery by Ziaur
Rahman over to mid-on, where it was promptly caught by Mahmudullah, with the skipper throwing his bat to the ground in frustration.
Craig Ervine who followed him to the pitch, was unremarkable, and dismissed on duck in the very next over by Mahmudullah. Stuart Matsikenyeri (27) however, provided his team some stability after the fall of two wickets, establishing a 51-run partnership
with Masakadza, which propelled their side to 125.
However, the partnership came to an abrupt end amid a steady fall of wickets. Matsikenyeri found himself caught out by Mashrafe Mortaza off Elias Sunny in the 17th over, after which Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura (1) were both dismissed in the
18th over – the former by Mashrafe Mortaza, and the latter run out by Anamul Haque.
The remainder of the batting order failed to make any significant contributions - Mashrafe Mortaza found a second victim in Graeme Cremer (10), while the young Abul Hasan, who had registered figures of 0 for 58 in the previous match, redeemed himself somewhat
by dismissing Prosper Utseya.
With Kyle Jarvis (7) and Chris Mpofu (0) at the crease, Zimbabwe finished at 149 by the end of 20 overs – a sizeable total which nevertheless offers Bangladesh an achievable target.