Bangla Tigers beat Zimbabwe by 28 runs in First ODI

Bangla Tigers beat Zimbabwe by 28 runs in First ODI

It was a great day for Bangladesh cricket as the Bangla Tigers managed to claim a victory over Zimbabwe in the opening One-Day International of a three-match at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.  

Opener Imrul Kayes played a superb knock of 144 off just 140 balls and steered the Mashrafe Mortaza-led side to a defendable 271-run total in 50 overs. He shared a 127-run stand with all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin for the seventh wicket as the hosts recovered from 139-6 to post 271 after electing to bat first.

Saifuddin provided the much-needed support to Kayes and played a crucial knock of 50 runs off 69 balls.

Chasing a target of 272, Zimbabwe managed to score 243 for the loss of nine wickets in their allotted 50 overs. Openers Cephas Zhuwao and Hamilton Masakadza gave a brilliant start to their team and put 48 runs in the first 7 overs of the Zimbabwe inning.

Bangladesh needed to break the partnership or else it could have caused problems for them. It was Mutafizur Rahman, who came into the attack and gave them the much-needed breakthrough. He broke the partnership on the first ball of the eighth over when Zhuwao was cleaned up after missing an incoming delivery.

Zimbabwe could not build a strong partnership afterward and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. They were reduced to 169 runs for the loss of eight wickets after 40 overs. Late heroics by Sean Williams and Kyle Jarvis gave some hope to the Hamilton Masakadz-led side but eventually could not take their team to the victory.

Spinner Mehidy Hasan was the pick of the bowlers for Bangla tigers as he picked up 3 important wickets in his 10 overs and gave away just 46 runs. Nazmul Islam also chipped in with 2 wickets in his 8 overs.

Imrul Kayes was named ‘Man of the Match’ for his career-best innings of 144.

The second and third match of the series will be played inside Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on October 24 and 26.

 

from SportsFlashes.com https://ift.tt/2CW6Lid