MIRPUR, Bangladesh, Dec 8: Aftab Ahmed smashed a brisk half-century and Mashrafe Mortaza grabbed three wickets as Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe by eight wickets in the fourth one-day international here on Friday.

Aftab struck four sixes in his unbeaten 69-ball 58 as Bangladesh passed Zimbabwe's modest total of 146 with 17.4 overs to spare for a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.

Aftab put on 85 in an unbeaten third-wicket partnership with Saqibul Hasan (31 not out) after Zimbabwean seamer Gary Brent had removed openers Shahriar Nafees (34) and Mehrab Hossain (13) in three overs.

However, Zimbabwe failed to put pressure on the hosts as Aftab and Hasan batted confidently against both spinners and seamers. Aftab hit three fours in his ninth half-century in one-day internationals.

The tourists earlier failed to cope with Bangladesh's pace-spin combination after being put in to bat.

Fast bowler Mortaza finished with 3-14 off 6.2 sharp overs to ensure his team did not chase a stiff target.

He was backed by fellow paceman Shahadat Hossain and left-arm spinners Abdur Razzak and Hasan, who grabbed two wickets apiece as their team never allowed Zimbabwe to build a noteworthy partnership.

Elton Chigumbura and Keith Dabengwa each made 32. Skipper Prosper Utseya (21), debutant Tino Mawoyo (14) and Hamilton Masakadza (13) were the other batsmen to reach double figures in a dismal Zimbabwean batting performance.

Scoreborad

ZIMBABWE

T.M.K. Mawoyo b Mortaza 14

C.J. Chibhabha c Rahim b Mortaza 4

H. Masakadza c Bashar b Razzak 13

B.R.M Taylor st Rahim b Razzak 4

S.C. Williams lbw b Hossain 0

E. Chigumbura b Saqibul 32

K.M. Dabengwa b Hossain 32

M.L. Nkala c Ashraful b Rafique 0

G.B. Brent c Ashraful b Saqibul 5

P. Utseya c Mehrab b Mortaza 21

C.B. Mpofu not out 0

EXTRAS: (LB-3, NB-6, W-12) 21

TOTAL: (all out 146, 47.2overs)

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-10, 2-40, 3-40, 4-40, 5-63, 6-96, 7-97, 8-111, 9-134.

BOWLING: Mortaza 6.2-2-14-3, Hossain 10-3-36-2, Razzak 9-2-27-2, Rafique 10-0-28-1, Saqibul 10-1-32-2, Mehrab 2-0-6-0.

BANGLADESH

Shahriar Nafees c Dabengwa b Brent 34

Mehrab Hossain c Taylor b Brent 13

Aftab Ahmed not out 58

Saqibul Hasan not out 31

EXTRAS: (NB-1, W-10) 11

TOTAL: (for 2 wkts, 32.2 overs) 147

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-43, 2-62.

BOWLING: Mpofu 6-0-31-0, Chigumbura 3-1-22-0, Brent 8-0-25-2, Nkala 3-0-11-0, Utseya 7.2-0-28-0, Williams 4-0-19-0, Dabengwa 1-0-11-0.

UMPIRES: Nadeem Ghauri (PAK) and Nadir Shah (BAN)

TV UMPIRE: Ziaul Islam (BAN)

MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).—AFP