Bangladesh opt to bowl in must-win ODI against Zimbabwe

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first against Zimbabwe in the second ODI of the three-match series, with skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz opting to chase in a must-win encounter at Harare on Thursday (July 9).

The visitors head into the match trailing 1-0 in the series after suffering a 25-run defeat in the opening ODI despite bowling Zimbabwe out for just 141. Bangladesh's batting collapse left them needing victory in the second match to keep the series alive.

Bangladesh have made one change to the playing XI, bringing in left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam in place of Mustafizur Rahman, who went wicketless in the series opener despite conceding only 19 runs in six overs.

The visitors were also dealt a setback ahead of the match after wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das was ruled out of the remainder of the series due to injury, a decision confirmed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board on Wednesday night.

Zimbabwe retained their core lineup as they aim to seal the series on home soil.

Zimbabwe XI: Ben Curran, Brian Bennett, Innocent Kaia, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Wesley Madhevere, Clive Madande (wk), Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Richard Ngarava (captain), Blessing Muzarabani.

Bangladesh XI: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (captain), Mosaddek Hossain, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam and Nahid Rana.