Bangladesh 194 for 5 (Sarkar 68, Mahmudullah 34, Shamim 31*) beat Zimbabwe by 193 wickets by 5 wickets (Madhevere 54, Chakbwa 48, Sarkar 2-19) by five wickets
Shamim Hossain gave yet another glimpse of his brilliance with an unbeaten 31 off 16 balls as Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe for 193 in Harare with four balls to spare. The home team, who went down by five wickets in the end, would have felt in control of the game for the first 30 overs of this game.
But Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah turned things around with a 63-run third wicket haul in the second half of Bangladesh's innings before Shamim, playing only his second T20I, took the Zimbabwe attack to six boundaries, a well-planned outing. Were.
Bangladesh needed 61 runs from 39 balls even after the fall of the government in the 14th over after an innings of 68 off 49 balls. Afif Hossain hit two sixes in his five-ball knock, before being bowled by Wellington Masakadza. Mahmudullah played his trademark flick on the Tendai Chhatara before Shamim punched it back.
He played a tennis-like forehand through cover before reverse-sweeping and then pulled off part-time seamer Dion Myers, who inexplicably bowled short one after another. Regis Chakabwa took a brilliant catch to dismiss Mahmudullah, who scored 34 off 28 balls, but Shamim and Nurul Hasan ensured they needed just five runs in the last over.
Shamim slams Masakadza straight to the ground, before pumping for a single to complete the win. As Shamim punched him in the air in victory, the home side's crest fell around him. But when Wesley Madhevre, Chakabwa and Ryan Burle were kicking it around Harare Sports Club, they must have assumed there was something to them.
Tadiwanase Marumani's SWAT in the first two overs - two fours and a six - signaled Zimbabwe's intent. Madhevere then took Taskin Ahmed away with two pull shots before it went for a straight three fours. On the next ball, Taskin again pulled the length back, but Madhevi was equal to the task.
He hit a pull shot between the two fielders. On the next ball, he flat-batted another full ball for the fifth consecutive boundary. Marumani bundled out Saifuddin for 27 to hit his second six, before he was dismissed for 63 for 1 in Zimbabwe's best Powerplay score against Bangladesh. It was also Zimbabwe's first fifty-plus opening stand since February 2018.
Zimbabwe needed some sort of consolidation after such a start, but Chakabwa took off in the other direction. He entered Bangladesh's bowling attack with six sixes in 15 balls, going particularly well in his switch-hit stand. After hitting Nasum Ahmed for a reverse slog-sweep, Chakabwa chipped him to midwicket for three consecutive sixes in the eleventh over.
He smashed Shakib Al Hasan and Sarkar for sixes at midwicket and a switch hit over point respectively. Chakabwa threatened to equal at least Malcolm Waller's fastest T20I half-century for Zimbabwe, as it looked like Bangladesh would really have to do something special to get rid of him.
It came immediately after three-six overs from Chakbawa. He reaches for a Sarkar delivery outside off-stump, to play a pre-determined and traditional slog-sweep. Mohammad Naeem ran hard to his left from fine leg and went back to Shamim, who was lurking close, to take the catch. Naeem's timing was amazing, but Shamim also had the awareness to complete the catch.
Sarkar struck again later in the over when he bowled Sikandar Raza, at which point Bangladesh were relieved. He missed a full ball to be dismissed for his second duck in the T20I series.
Madheve was dismissed soon after reaching his second consecutive half-century, leaving the last five overs on burl. Dion Myers backed him with three fours in 23, before getting down to the business of the left-hander. He hit three fours and two sixes in his 15-ball 31 not out, all off Saifuddin, who was again a surprising choice in the death overs, conceding 35 runs in the 18th and 20th overs.
Zimbabwe did not allow Bangladesh to land on a flier, removing Nayeem early in the third over when the left hand pulled a Blessing Mujarbani delivery over his stumps. Sarkar and Shakib tried to maintain the run-rate but missed several deliveries as they looked for a boundary.
Shakib hit a boundary before hitting two sixes off Luke Jongwe, but later in the same over he made 25 off 13 balls and was dismissed at long off. Zimbabwe dried up the boundaries at this stage, as the visitors reached 90 for 2 at the halfway point.
The turnaround
At the end of the tenth over, Mahmudullah's four boundaries broke the boundary duck in 15 balls. On 37, Sarkar got a second life off the next ball when Chakabwa missed the stumping opportunity. He was earlier dismissed for 25 runs. But something clicked with Sarkar and Mahmudullah as they scored 50 runs in the next four overs.
Sarkar hit Masakadza for two fours before Mahmudullah did the same against Jongwe in the next over. Sarkar repeated the dose on Myers before he was dismissed trying to clear long off in the 14th over.
The scoring pace reduced the run-rate to less than nine per over, but this stopped when Mujarbani conceded just two runs in the 15th over. But Shamim and Mahmudullah didn't let it bother their big hitting pace, completing the win in the last over.