Bangladesh 276 for 9 (Tamim 73, Kayes 73, Mahmudullah 52) beat Zimbabwe 215 (Williams 64, Mustafizur 5-34) by 61 runs
In three spells that tested the skill of the Zimbabwe batsmen and drew plenty of oohs and aahs from the crowd at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mustafizur Rahman took his third five-for to ensure Bangladesh’s 3-0 sweep of the one-day international (ODI) cricket series.
Cricinfo
Mustafizur conceded boundaries from time to time, but Zimbabwe’s batsmen could not dominate him.
There were many plays and misses, and edges that almost carried to the slips.
There were several occasions when the ball missed the stumps by a whisker, as he got the ball to swing and cut.
When he ran in to bowl with Zimbabwe nine-down, Mashrafe Mortaza gave him eight slips.
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Mustafizur’s first two strikes upset the boundary-filled start that Zimbabwe made in the first seven overs.
Off the second ball of the chase, Chamu Chibhabha had little clue as Mustafizur got the ball to swing enough to get past his driving arms.
Craig Ervine and Regis Chakabva kept finding fours, but in the seventh over again, Mustafizur removed Chakabva with a slower delivery that the opening batsmen could only lob to cover.
Ervine fell to Nasir Hossain in the ninth over when he played back to a delivery that didn’t get up as much as he anticipated and he was trapped lbw for 21 off 25 balls.
Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura then joined Sean Williams in an attempt to resurrect the innings and get a measure of the required run-rate.
Williams was given a lifeline when the substitute fielder Anamul Haque dropped him at mid-off on 23.
The two batsmen found boundaries too and Mashrafe started to look for his sixth bowler.
Sabbir Rahman bowled an excellent delivery to get rid of Chigumbura in the 23rd over after he had added 80 runs for the fourth wicket with Williams.
Chigumbura made 45 with six boundaries and was removed before he could open up in a big way.
Zimbabwe could have ended this ODI series without a single 50 from their batsmen, had Arafat Sunny not trodden on the stumps in the 30th over when Williams — batting on 49 — was short of the crease.
For the next six overs, Bangladesh had to contend with a dangerous partnership between Malcolm Waller and Williams, but Nasir intervened, taking a head-high catch in the covers to dismiss Waller.
Next over, Williams fell to an easy catch at cover after he failed to time a drive off Mashrafe. He made 64 off 84 balls with five fours.
Mustafizur came back to remove Sikandar Raza, who was caught splendidly by Sabbir as he ran from mid-on to mid-off. Next ball, Luke Jongwe holed out at midwicket, but his hat-trick ball was kept away by Graeme Cremer.
Later, Mustafizur took a return catch to dismiss Tinashe Panyangara and complete a third five-wicket haul in ODIs, figures that complemented the work of Bangladesh’s opening batsmen.
