Shakib Shines As Bangladesh Beat Zimbabwe

Shakib Shines As Bangladesh Beat Zimbabwe

Shakib smashed 104 and took two wickets to star in his side's victory.

©REUTERS/Andrew Biraj (BANGLADESH) Picture Supplied by Action Images

Bangladesh 320-8 (Shakib Al Hasan 104, Tamim Iqbal 79) beat
Zimbabwe 271 (Williams 75, Shakib Al Hasan 2-39) by 49 runs
Scorecard
Second One-Day International, Bulawayo
By Peter Exley

Bangladesh won the second ODI against Zimbabwe after a valiant run chase from the home side saw them fall 49 runs short in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bowl first, perhaps the wrong decision as Tamim Iqbal began well and scored 79 before being dismissed. Mohammad Ashraful couldn’t repeat the heroic batting that saw him bat his side to victory in the first match as he was trapped LBW by Justice Chibhaba for 22. Instead it was left to Shakib Al Hasan to produce a magnificent display of one-day batting.

He hit 104 from just 64 balls to propel his side from what looked like an average score to one that looks to be out of reach of Zimbabwe. His innings included 10 boundaries and four sixes before he was run out on 104.

Raqibul Hasan chipped in with a quick fire 35 and Mushfiqur Rahim 23 not out to give Bangladesh a lift in the dying overs to reach 320 for eight.

In reply, Zimbabwe put up a good fight in chasing a total that was realistically beyond their abilities. Early wickets for the Bangladeshis meant that the thought of a win quickly disappeared in the minds of the Zimbabwe batsmen, as they slipped to 137 for five.

However, when Sean Williams joined Charles Coventry at the crease, these two batsmen gave a little glimmer of hope for an unlikely win. Coventry hit 61 from 64 balls and Williams 75 from 71 in putting on 78 for the sixth wicket.

Stuart Matsikinyeri added 39 and Elton Chigumbura smashed a quick 31 to bring Zimbabwe to within fifty of the total, but that was all they could manage as man of the match Shakib Al Hasan, took the final wicket of Ray Price to seal the victory.

Bangladesh are now 2-0 up in the five match series with three matches to play, so in theory Zimbabwe could still come back into the series, however it is looking unlikely that they will get close to a rampant Bangladesh.

© Cricket World 2009

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