Zimbabwe 141 (Nyamhuri 33, Ngarava 27, Rana 6-21, Taskin 2-32) beat Bangladesh 116 (Nurul 31, Ngarava 3-31, Evans 3-34, Nyamhuri 2-22, Muzarabani 2-24) by 25 runs
Much of the damage Bangladesh sustained was of their own doing. After their top three batters threw their wickets away, Towhid Hridoy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz repeated the trick against deliveries they should ideally have put away to the boundary.
It all started in the second over, bowled by Blessing Muzarabani, as Tanzid Hasan pulled a short ball to Nyamhuri, who was placed a straighter than usual at fine leg. When Nyamhuri realised momentum was taking him beyond the boundary, he threw the ball back on the field of play, stepped over, then back in and calmly completed the catch. In the fourth over, Najmul Hossain Shanto sliced one to Ben Curran at deep third as Muzarabani got his second wicket. Three balls later, Soumya Sarkar slashed Ngarava to deep third as well, as Nyamhuri took his second catch.
Bangladesh were 17 for 3 and Zimbabwe sniffed an upset, but Hridoy and Nurul Hasan dug in. Ngarava used attacking fields – two slips were a given for much of the partnership – as both batters kept getting beaten. Hridoy and Nurul seemed in no hurry, but just when Bangladesh were beginning to gradually regain momentum, Hridoy, on 25, flashed at a short and wide ball outside off from Nyamhuri in the 19th over. Curran, at deep third, almost overran the ball before swiftly moving to his left to catch it.
From there, it all unraveled for Bangladesh. From 66 for 3, they lost 7 for 50 to be bowled out for 116. Come the 21st over, Nyamhuri had Mosaddek Hossain fending behind. Three overs later, Mehidy fell to another great effort in the outfield, as Brian Bennett rushed forward to take a low catch at deep cover point to give Ngarava his second wicket.
At 89 for 6, Rishad Hossain joined Nurul as the last recognised batters for Bangladesh but they couldn’t do much. With no DRS available, Nurul, on 31, was unable to review what seemed like a tight lbw decision that went against him. Evans, who had landed that blow, had Rishad and Taskin caught in his next two overs, before Ngarava sealed victory.
But before Bangladesh, Zimbabwe’s batting had collapsed as well. They lost 8 for 34 after their openers Bennett and Curran put on 36. Mehidy had elected to bowl after he spotted moisture in the pitch and overcast conditions above. While the start didn’t go his bowlers’ way, it turned around in no time. Curran was run out for 18 as Mehidy’s throw from mid-off hit the stumps, before Taskin and Rana started the party.
Taskin had Bennett caught for 17 two balls later, and started the ninth over by bowling Craig Ervine for a first-ball duck with a beautiful ball that was short and seamed away to hit the top of middle stump. Rana got into the act later, in the 14th over, and his extra pace on a helpful pitch made him difficult to handle. By the time his first spell ended, Rana had Sikandar Raza caught behind, Wessly Madhevere fending to second slip, Clive Madande slicing to point, Innocent Kaia also caught by the wicketkeeper, and Evans lbw.
Evans was Rana’s fifth wicket, as the Bangladesh quick completed his third ODI five-for of the year. Rana got his sixth wicket when he cleaned Ngarava up with a yorker to end what turned out to be a defining stand.
But where Bangladesh threatened to bowl Zimbabwe out for a sub-100 total, Nyamhuri and Ngarava fought back to give Zimbabwe an outside chance. By the end of the day, they also contributed with the ball to convert that outside chance into victory.
Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at Cricinfo
