HARARE: Bangladesh opener Liton Das made a fine 102 to set up a 155-run victory over Zimbabwe on Friday in the first of three One-day Inter­nationals at the Harare Sports Club.

The tourists made 276-9 off 50 overs before all-rounder Sha­kib al Hasan took 5-30 as Zimbabwe slumped to a dismal 121 all out, with injured Timycen Mar­uma unable to bat.

Slow left-armer Shakib’s third five-wicket haul in ODIs also gave him the record most dismissals in ODI cricket, going past former captain Mashrafe Mortaza’s tally of 269 wickets.

Liton, who was only picked for this game after regular wicket-keeper/batsman Mus­hfiqur Rah­im left the tour because of a family matter, struck his fourth ODI century for Bangladesh after they were put in to bat when Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor won the toss. Three of his four tons have come against the southern Africa nation, and the latest came off 114 balls and included eight fours.

Bangladesh lost captain Tamim Iqbal in the third over without a run on the board and were 74-4 before Liton and Mahmudullah turned the tide. They added 93 for the fifth wicket before Mahmudullah was caught behind by Regis Chakabva off Luke Jongwe for 33.

Liton carried on to post his century before being caught at square leg by Wellington Masakadza from a Richard Ngarava delivery.

Afif Hossain struck two sixes in scoring 45 off 35 balls before being clean bowled by right-arm seamer Jongwe, who was the most successful Zimbabwean bowler, taking 3-51.

In reply, Zimbabwe made a disastrous start, losing openers Wesley Madhevere (9) and Tadiwanashe Marumani (0) to slip to 13-2 within the first five overs.

Hopes that Taylor could celebrate his 200th ODI appearance with a big innings failed to materialise and he made only 24 before being caught by Taskin Ahmed at short fine leg to give Shakib the wicket he needed to claim the national record. It was left to Chakabva to top score with 54. He produced four fours and two sixes, before falling to a Mehidy Hasan catch.

The matches are part of the World Cup Super League, a feeder tournament that determines which seven teams, along with hosts India, earn direct qualification to the 2023 World Cup.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal c Chakabva b Muzarabani 0 Liton Das c sub b Ngarava 102 Shakib al Hasan c Burl b Muzarabani 19 M. Mithun c Chakabva b Chatara 19 Mosaddek Hossain c Chakabva b Ngarava 5 Mahmudullah c Chakabva b Jongwe 33 Afif Hossain b Jongwe 45 Mehidy Hasan c sub b Jongwe 26 Mohammad Saifuddin not out 8 Taskin Ahmed run out 1 Shoriful Islam not out 0 EXTRAS (W1-8) 18 TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 276 FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-32, 3-57, 4-74, 5-167, 6-207, 7-265, 8-265, 9-267. BOWLING: Muzarabani 10-2-47-2 (1w); Chatara 10-1-49-1 (3w); Ngarava 10-1-61-2 (3w); Jongwe 9-0-51-3 (2w); Burl 5-0-31-0 (3w); Madhevere 6-0-37-0 (1w).

ZIMBABWE:

W. Madhevere b Taskin 9 T. Marumani b Saifuddin 0 B.R.M. Taylor c Taskin b Shakib 24 D.N. Myers c Mosaddek b Shoriful 18 R.W. Chakabva c Mehidy b Shakib 54 R.P. Burl c Afif b Shakib 6 L.M. Jongwe run out 0 B. Muzarabani lbw b Shakib 2 T.L. Chatara not out 2 R. Ngarava c sub b Shakib 0 T. Maruma absent hurt - EXTRAS (LB-2, W-4) 6 TOTAL (all out, 28.5 overs) 121 FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-13, 3-49, 4-78, 5-105, 6-105, 7-108, 8-119, 9-121. BOWLING: Taskin Ahmed 5-0-22-1; Mohammad Saifuddin 4-0-23-1 (2w); Shakib Al Hasan 9.5-3-30-5 (1w); Shoriful Islam 6-0-28-1 (1w); Mehidy Hasan 3-0-15-0; Mosaddek Hossain 1-0-1-0. RESULT: Bangladesh won by 155 runs to lead three-match series 1-0. UMPIRES: L. Rusere (Zimbabwe) and M. Erasmus (South Africa) TV UMPIRE: I. Chabi (Zimbabwe). MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe). PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Liton Das. SECOND MATCH: Harare, Sunday (12:30pm PST). THIRD MATCH: Harare, Tuesday (12:30pm PST).

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2021