HARARE — Sikandar Raza scored an unbeaten
117 as
Zimbabwe staged a great run chase for the second time in three days to
beat Bangladesh by five wickets on Sunday and take a winning 2–0 lead in a
three-match
one-day international (ODI) series.
اضافة اعلان
The Pakistan-born batsman hit four sixes and eight
fours off 127 deliveries and his 201-run fifth-wicket partnership with captain
Regis Chakabva turned the tide after Bangladesh posted 290–9 in Harare.
Chakabva played a wonderful supporting role to Raza,
who has been consistently outstanding for his adopted country, smashing 102
runs off 75 balls, including two sixes and 10 fours.
Zimbabwe reached 291–5 with 15 balls to spare after
the early loss of wickets and a slow scoring rate suggested they had little
chance of success at Harare Sports Club.
“Since (coach) Dave (Houghton) came back, we have
put a lot of emphasis on a lot of good things and to be able to achieve that,
it is such a humbling feeling,” said Raza.
“I know I am grabbing the (individual) trophy but
Reggie (Chakabva) and Tony (Muyonga) did well. The bowlers also did an amazing
job. So, as much as it is me, it is really all of us.
“It is good that I am doing my job, but to have 100s
from me and Reggie, that little cameo from Tony, and Luke (Jongwe) the other
day, tells you the depth of the squad. I am very pleased for the boys.”
Bangladesh skipper
Tamim said: “We put up a decent total. During the first game, we had an
opportunity to score 20 more runs. Today, I thought our batting was good but we
did not execute our bowling well.”
“The wicket was good from the beginning but when the
spinners came on, it was not as easy as in the first game. All credit must go
to Zimbabwe. They were the better team in this series.”
Remarkable transformation
Zimbabwe also won the first
ODI match on Friday by five wickets against opponents ranked eight places
higher and continued a remarkable transformation under recently hired Houghton.
The former national team batting star took over in
June with Zimbabwe in the doldrums after 3–0 ODI and Twenty20 whitewashes by
visiting Afghanistan.
Houghton told his squad to express themselves, not
be afraid of making mistakes and not to be intimidated by opponents, however
strong they appeared on paper.
The triumph on Sunday was the ninth in 10 ODI and
T20 matches under Houghton as Zimbabwe prepare for the T20 World Cup in
Australia from October.
As on Friday, Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to
field, and once again the
Bangladesh batsmen did well, led by an unbeaten 80
from Mahmudullah Riyad and a 50 from Tamim.
Mahmudullah hit three sixes and three fours in a
126-minute stand while Iqbal needed just 45 balls to claim his half century,
which included a six and 10 fours.
Afif Hossain (41) and Najmul Hossain (38) also made
significant contributions against a Zimbabwe attack in which the spin of Raza
proved most effective as he captured three wickets.
In reply, Zimbabwe lost their first wicket with just
one run on the board and when they found themselves at 49–4, even supreme optimist
Houghton could hardly have visualized what was about to occur.
Raza and Chakabva — standing in as series skipper
for injured Craig Ervine — took the fight to the Bangladeshi attack and slowly
but surely lifted the total and raised hopes of an unlikely victory.
With 40 overs gone, Zimbabwe were 220–4 and needed
71 runs from 60 balls to win both the match and the series.
The loss of Chakabva, caught by Tamim at midwicket
after miscuing a Mehidy Hasan delivery, did not stop the run surge and an
unbeaten 30 from ODI debutant Tony Munyonga took Zimbabwe over the line.
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