The first ODI of the 3 Match Series between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh was a one side affair as Bangladesh won the game by a margin of 155 runs.
Playing his 200th ODI, Brendan Taylor won the coin toss for Zimbabwe to begin with. Opting to field first, they got a brilliant start with the ball by scalping 4 wickets of the opponent inside the first 20 overs. Young Muzarabani was once again impressive with his angling across deliveries to the left handers as he scalped both the south-paws, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, in his first spell which read 5-2-14-2.
Liton Das along with Mahmudullah steadied the innings with a 97 run partnership for the 5th wicket before the latter gifting his wicket in search of some quick runs. Das along with Afif Hossain continued in search of posting a respectable total, where the opening wicket-keeper completed his century (4th in ODIs) before holing out at deep square leg. Bangladesh posted a decent score of 276-9 with the help of some clean hitting from Afif and Mehidy Hasan to finish their innings.
Zimbabwe began their run chase in a similar manner to the hosts as they lost 4 wickets within 20 overs for 70 odd runs. With the loss of their captain’s wicket, their only hope was the wicket-keeper batsman Regis Chakabva, who commenced his inning in a fine fashion by scoring boundaries whenever required but eventually ended up losing his wicket after scoring a run-a-ball half-century.
The task seemed out of reach for the hosts, as Shakib Al Hasan ran through the line-up picking his 3rd 5-wicket haul in ODIs to finish the innings which gave the visitors a victory with a huge margin.
The 2nd ODI is to be played with a day’s gap and Zimbabwe will be looking to rectify their issues to give a decent fight. Sikandar Raza could be brought in the XI to balance the youth with experience.
Bangladesh on the other hand would like to have another good game to add to their points in the World Super League. Mustafizur Rahman might sit out if not fully fit (owing to a small niggle from the warm-up match) for one more game.
Match: 2nd ODI
Date: 18th July 2021
Time: 1.00 pm
Where to watch: Fancode App
DREAM11 FANTASY TEAM
L. Das, T. Iqbal (VC), B. Taylor, M. Hossain, S. Al Hasan (C), R. Burl, D. Myers, M. Hasan Miraz, T.Ahmed, M. Saifuddin, B. Muzarabani
