Bangladesh edge Zimbabwe in Bulawayo thriller to seal T20I series 2-1

Bangladesh ended the Zimbabwe tour on a high with a thrilling four-wicket win in the third T20I to seal the series 2-1. After opting to bat first, Zimbabwe once again struggled with the bat, scoring 143/7 in their allotted 20 overs. The innings was held together by Dion Myers, who had the support of Brian Bennett (47 off 38).

However, none of the other batters could reach double figures for Zimbabwe. For Bangladesh, Mohammad Saifuddin (2/35) scalped two wickets. In reply, the visitors were cruising for a comfortable win, riding on a brilliant half-century from Tanzid Hasan Tamim (66* off 58), before a flurry of wickets in the last two overs derailed their chase.

In the end, Mahedi Hasan held his nerve and struck a boundary on his very first ball to take his team over the line with two balls to spare. Zimbabwe bowlers fought hard as Richard Ngarava, Brad Evans (2/26, 3.4 overs) and Sikandar Raza (2/38) scalped two wickets each.

However, they couldn’t save the series for their side as Bangladesh made a brilliant comeback on the tour after losing the one-off Test and the ODI series. 

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Tanzid Hasan Tamim was adjudged Player of the Match for his brilliant innings as he scored an unbeaten 66* (58), laced with one four and four sixes. After Bangladesh were reduced to 4/1 in the first over, Tamim stitched crucial partnerships with Parvez Hossain Emon (24 off 22) of 55 runs (47 balls) for the second wicket.

Later, he added another 63 runs off 44 balls with Towhid Hridoy (24 off 19) for the third wicket to bring his team on the cusp of victory. Tamim was also named Player of the Series, finishing as the highest run scorer of the series, with 140 runs from three innings at an average of 70, registering two fifties.

Turning Point

Zimbabwe were eyeing a score in excess of 160, being 109/3 after 15 overs. However, the hosts faced a dramatic collapse, losing four wickets in a space of 13 balls and were restricted to 143/7.

Things again got tricky for Bangladesh in the second innings as they required five runs to win off the last balls. They further lost back-to-back wickets against Brad Evans in the last over, with the equation coming down to four needed off the last three balls, having four wickets in hand.

However, Mahedi Hasan held his nerve and hit a boundary off his very first ball to get Bangladesh over the line. 

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Towhid Hridoy (Bangladesh):

(Happy with the performance of his lads?) Alhamdulillah, so far we did well as a batting unit and bowling unit. The last two matches we dominated and we controlled the game. (On their comeback after losing the first T20I) When we lost the first match, then we had a meeting and we discussed the conditions and how we would go forward. Our boys really played well. As a bowling unit and batting unit, they really played well. (On Rishad Hossain) We know about Rishad, his ability. When he gets the opportunity, he shows his character, and he's dominated with the ball here. (On Tanzid) Yeah, he's a class batsman. We know his abilities, and whenever he gets in, he always tries to finish the game, and he shows that for the team.

Losing Captain, Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe): 

(On what was a par score on this surface and whether they were short?) I thought 155. We realized that this is a typical Bulawayo wicket that's going to get harder to bat on, and it did. I just think we were maybe 5 to 10 runs short as well. But having said that, I still think, had we fielded a little bit better - it has been our Achilles heel - I think we made a game out of it anyway. If you look at the dropped chances, the misfield, and all those things that we did on the park, they could have been needing 15 runs to win the game in the last over, but unfortunately not to be. (On the blips in the field) In the field, there were a lot of misfields. There were a lot of twos that shouldn't have been. We spoke about it. Some of the lack of awareness from the boundary riders suddenly cost us those runs as well. A lot of the twos were straight to fielders as well. So, all those things just contributed. I think our game awareness today in the field was quite poor. (On the last over) We backed Brad, and it would have been a great game had we won the game. But still, a good game of cricket as well, and credit to Bangladesh for winning the game. Having five fielders inside, it was always tough. But credit to Brad that he showed a lot of character and heart there as well. Unfortunately, when the margins are very small, a full toss, and you middle it, it's a four. These things matter. Again, like I said, the way we fielded - had we fielded a bit better, Brad wouldn't be defending five. He might have been defending 15 to 18.