Bangladesh Beat Zimbabwe To Stay In Tournament

Bangladesh Beat Zimbabwe To Stay In Tournament

The 54-run partnership between Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah steered Bangladesh to victory over Zimbabwe

©REUTERS / Action Images

Bangladesh 153-4 (Nasir Hossain 41no) beat
Zimbabwe 149-8 (Masakadza 56) by 6 wickets
Tri-Nation T20 Series, Harare

Bangladesh claimed their first win of the Tri-Nations Twenty20 series in Zimbabwe, beating the hosts by six wickets with 15 balls to spare.

Their confident run chase keeps them in with a chance of winning the tournament and ends Zimbabwe's run of two wins from their opening matches.

Batting first, Zimbabwe made 149 for eight as Hamilton Masakadza scored another half-century but Bangladesh needed just 17.3 overs to overhaul their target.

Masakadza, coming off the back of innings of 62 and 55, hit 56 in 54 balls with five fours and a six whil Brendan Taylor struck 27 in 13 balls.

Stuart Matsikenyeri also hit 27 but Bangladesh limited the flow of runs by taking wickets, Mashrafe Mortaza with two of them and Elias Sunny, Abul Hasan, Ziaur Rahman and Mahmudullah all grabbing one apiece.

Bangladesh made a strong start to their reply but lost wickets at the top of the order, Tamim Iqbal (13), Mohammad Ashraful (19) and Anamul Haque (11) falling cheaply.

However, they were set back on course by Mushfiqur Rahim, whose 31 in 23 balls was vital after he came to the crease at 52 for three.

After his dismissal in the 14th over, Nasir Hossain struck an unbeaten 41 in 31 balls and Mahmudullah thumped an 29 not out in 14 balls to see Bangladesh home.

Bangladesh play their final group game against South Africa tomorrow (22nd June), knowing that they have to win to stand any chance of making the final.

© Cricket World 2012