With Zimbabwe colts competing in their final match of the tournament, the fans thronged to the Harare Sports Club and drummed up a carnival atmosphere. And Zimbabwe gave home fans a lot to celebrate, and dance about. They kept the shackles on Bangladesh with some tight bowling and electric fielding.
Azizul Hakim Tamim came up with a captain’s knock to anchor the innings, scoring 59 off 87 balls. He built a 73-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Rizan Hossan. But Tamim fell to Zimbabwe pacer Tatenda Chimugoro, trying a wild slash and was caught behind.
At one stage, it looked like the Tigers would struggle to put up 200 on the board. But against the run of play, Bangladesh stepped on the accelerator in the final 10 overs. If Shahriar Ahmed’s 11-ball 15 was the catalyst, Al Fahad (23 not out) and Iqbal Hossain (8 not out) provided the final flourish. With Zimbabwe up against the clock in terms of over rate, the visiting side raked up 22 runs in the last over. Fahad closed out the innings with a six over square leg to take Bangladesh past 250.
For Zimbabwe, Tatenda Chimugoro, Shelton Mazvitorera and Michael Blignaut claimed two wickets each.
Bangladesh carried the momentum into the second half, and quickly reduced the hosts to 15/3. Pacer Iqbal Hossian ripped through top of the order, claiming four of the first five wickets. He finished with figures of 5/24