Bangladesh outclass Zimbabwe

Bangladesh claimed victory in the first ever 20/20 international, against a Zimbabwe side who were also getting their first taste of the game.

Batting first, Bangladesh got off to a bad start when Nazmus Sadat fell after just three balls, with the score on 4.

However, Shahriar Nafees and Aftab Ahmed then put on a quickfire 53 run partnership, and from then on it was all Bangladesh. Although there were no massive scores, they kept adding runs at a quick tempo.

Zimbabwe had a ray of hope briefly when they had Bangladesh at 115-7, but Mashrafe Mortaza showed that he has the credentials to be a true allrounder, with an exciting 36 off 26 balls, with two fours and two sixes.

The pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe was Prosper Utseya, who picked up 3-25 in his four overs. However, even he could not stop Bangladesh from geting to a highly competitive 166.

If Zimbabwe were going to make a contest of the chase, they needed Brendan Taylor to excel. Unfortunately for them, he fell for 5 after just four balls, clean bowled by Mortaza.

After slipping to 25-3, a 54 run partnership between Hamilton Masakdza and Sean Williams looked somewhat threatening, but after they fell, none of the remaining batsmen even managed to get to double figures.

The game slowly petered out to it’s inevitable conclusion, with Zimbabwe finishing well short on 123-9.

A convincing win for Bangladesh, and things look ominous for the Zimbabweans as regards to their upcoming clashes.

Bangladesh 166
Mashrafe Mortaza 38, Aftab Ahmed 28, Saqibul Hasan 26
Propser Utseya 3-25, Gary Brent 2-40, Chamu Chibabha 1-14

Bangaldesh won by 43 runs

Zimbabwe 123-9
Sean Williams 38, Hamilton Masakdza 35, Stuart Matsikinyeri 15
Abdur Razzak 3-15, Shahadat Hossain 2-22, Mohammad Rafique 1-23