Bangladesh suffer crushing 99-run defeat to Zimbabwe

Bangladesh made a disappointing start to the tri-nation ODI series in the United Arab Emirates. On Saturday (17 October) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Tigers lost to Zimbabwe by a big margin of 99 runs. Chasing 272, Bangladesh were bowled out for just 172 in 33.4 overs.

Zimbabwe won the toss, batted first and were in trouble early. Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed bowled superbly to reduce them to 24 for three. Taskin dismissed Brian Bennett, Ben Curran and Tafadzwa Tsiga to put the opposition under pressure from the start.

Experienced batters Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine then rebuilt the innings. They put on 150 for the fourth wicket and put the Bangladesh bowlers under pressure. The stand ended when Taylor was dismissed by Saif Hassan for 81 off 101 balls. Soon after, Saif also removed Sikandar Raza for 4.

At the other end, Ervine held firm and got close to a century. He was dismissed by Shoriful Islam for 93 off 106 balls. Late on, an unbeaten 21-run stand between Wellington Masakadza and Newman Nyamhuri took Zimbabwe to 271 for eight in their 50 overs.

For Bangladesh, Taskin took three wickets for 44 runs. Shoriful Islam took two for 47 and Saif Hassan two for 17.

Bangladesh’s reply did not start badly. Soumya Sarkar fell for 9 to a Blessing Muzarabani delivery, but Tanzid Hasan Tamim kept the runs coming with aggressive batting. He hit nine fours and a six in a quickfire 46 off 38 balls.

After Tanzid’s dismissal, however, Bangladesh’s batting lost its rhythm and the team kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mosaddek Hossain and Saif Hassan all failed to play big innings. Zimbabwe’s bowlers kept things tight in the middle overs, and Bangladesh gradually slipped out of the match.

Saif Hassan tried to resist with 26 off 37 balls, but with the other batters failing it was not enough. Late on, Rishad Hossain made 23 off 33 balls. Taskin Ahmed remained unbeaten on 16 but could not prevent the defeat.

Brad Evans was Zimbabwe’s most successful bowler, taking four wickets for 45 runs in 6.4 overs. Wellington Masakadza took two for 18, and Sikandar Raza also took two wickets.

The win gives Zimbabwe a good start in the three-team ODI series. Bangladesh, on the other hand, begin the tournament with a major batting failure.