Bangladesh ensured their tour of Zimbabwe will end with a decider after squaring the three-match T20I series with a 34-run win in game two in Bulawayo. Put in to bat, Bangladesh innings swayed from the sublime to the ridiculous as Saif Hassan and Tanzid Hasan put on an opening stand of 120 – and both scored half-centuries – helped by five dropped catches.
An uncharacteristically sloppy Zimbabwean side seemed short on plans, with seven bowlers used, and they also spilled a sixth catch at the end of the Bangladesh innings for a forgettable fielding display. In-between those drops, they took five wickets for 21 runs to pull Bangladesh back from a total that seemed headed north of 180.
They got there anyway, thanks to one man. A stunning final-over assault from Mohammad Saifuddin, batting at No.7, plundered 28 runs to push Bangladesh from 158 for 5 to 186. Saifuddin became the first Bangladesh batter to hit four sixes in successive deliveries.
Zimbabwe had only successfully chased a higher score than this only once in their history and needed a big partnership. The closest they got to that was the 44-run fourth wicket stand between Sikandar Raza and Milton Shumba but none of their batters made more than Ryan Burl’s 29. Bangladesh’s spinners did the bulk of the strangling as Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hossain shared seven wickets between them and conceded just 50 runs in the 46 deliveries they bowled.
Their only concern will be that seamer Nahid Rana left the field midway through his third over, with what seemed to be a side strain.