BULAWAYO: Opener Tanzid Hasan struck an unbeaten 66 to steer Bangladesh to a T20 series-clinching four-wicket victory over Zimbabwe at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Sunday.

The 2-1 T20 series triumph was a welcome relief for the visitors after suffering an innings defeat in a one-off Test, then a 2-1 loss in a One-day International series on an all-formats tour.

Zimbabwe won the toss and posted 143-7 thanks to Dion Myers (73) and Brian Bennett (47), with no other batter reaching double figures.

Bangladesh then reached 144-6 with two balls to spare. Tanzid Hasan received valuable support from Parvez Hossain Emon and captain Towhid Hridoy.

Emon and Hridoy contributed 24 runs each before becoming victims of off-spinner Sikandar Raza, the 40-year-old Zimbabwe captain and all-rounder.

After winning the player of the match and series awards, Tanzid Hasan said: "My approach was not to play too hard. Rather, watch the ball and play on merit."

Raza said: "I feared our total was about 10 runs short of what we needed to win the match and the series. I also believe we could have fielded a little better."

Batting at No. 3, Myers struck two sixes and seven fours before flicking a ball to mid-wicket and calling for a second run. The decision backfired when Rishad Hossain swiftly threw the ball to wicket-keeper Emon and Myers was run out.

After the early loss of opener Saif Hassan (4) in Bangladesh''s response, left-hand batter Hasan took control to claim his 13th T20 half-century. His unbeaten 58-ball knock included four sixes and a single four.

SCOREBOARD

ZIMBABWE:

B. Bennett b Saifuddin 47

T. Marumani c Yasir b Mahedi 4

D. Myers run out 73

S. Raza c Yasir b Rishad 3

R. Burl c Towhid b Gaffar 7

B. Evans run out 1

C. Madande c Parvez b Saifuddin 0

M. Shumba not out 4

T. Maposa not out 0

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, W-2) 4

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 143

DID NOT BAT: R. Ngarava, B. Muzarabani

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-6 (Marumani), 2-77 (Bennett), 3-107 (Raza), 4-129 (Burl), 5-131 (Evans), 6-131 (Madande), 7-140 (Myers)

BOWLING: Taskin 4-0-16-0, Mahedi 4-0-31-1 (1w), Saifuddin 4-0-35-2, Rishad 4-0-28-1, Gaffar 4-0-31-1 (1w)

BANGLADESH:

Saif Hassan c M’rabani b Ngarava 4

Tanzid Hasan not out 66

Parvez Hossain c Evans b Raza 24

Towhid Hridoy c&b Raza 24

Yasir Ali c Marumani b Ngarava 10

Mosaddek Hossain b Evans 1

Saifuddin c Burl b Evans 0

Mahedi Hasan not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-8) 11

TOTAL (for six wkts, 19.4 overs) 144

DID NOT BAT: Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Abdul Gaffar Saqlain

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 (Saif), 2-59 (Parvez), 3-122 (Towhid), 4-137 (Yasir), 5-140 (Mosaddek) , 6-140 (Saifuddin)

BOWLING: Ngarava 4-0-20-2 (1w), Muzarabani 4-0-17-0, Evans 3.4-0-26-2, Raza 4-0-38-2 (2w), Maposa 2-0-21-0, Burl 1-0-8-0, Bennett 1-0-11-0

RESULT: Bangladesh won by four wickets.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Tanzid Hasan

SERIES: Bangladesh won the three-match series 2-1.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Tanzid Hasan

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2026