da realsbet： Abdur Razzak turned in an excellent performance of left-arm spin as Bangladesh clinched a 26-run win against Zimbabwe at Bogra to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series
The Bulletin by Kanishkaa Balachandran05-Dec-2006
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Abdur Razzak’s maiden five-wicket haul sunk Zimbabwe at Bogra © AFP
A five-wicket haul by Abdur Razzak helped Bangladesh gain anunassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match one-day series, as they beat Zimbabweby 26 runs in the third match at Bogra. Zimbabwe gave themselves a shot atgaining their maiden victory of the series after a committed display in the field,restricting the opposition to 220. However, the batsmen, barring SeanWilliams, failed to respond to the task as they were bowled out for 194.Razzak, continued his purple patch in this series with superb figures of 5 for 33, his best figures in ODIs.As has been the trend in this series, Bangladesh rode on the performance of their spinners and an impressive opening burst by their fast bowlers, who gave little away.Brendan Taylor was the first to go, beaten for pace by Shahadat Hossain. Stuart Matsikenyeri wasn’t afraid to free his arms, and that approach fetched him a few powerful boundaries through the off side off the seamers. But Zimbabwe’s struggles against spin continued as Razzak – brought in as early as the 10th over -struck with two wickets in his first over. Matsikenyeri failed tocapitalise on his start and was bowled trying to swing across the line, while twoballs later Chamu Chibhabha was sent packing, trapped in front. HamiltonMasakadza went soon after, slashing hard at an outswinger, and at 48 for4, Zimbabwe were in dire trouble.They nearly lost a fifth when Shahriar Nafees dropped a sitter atthird man, giving Williams a reprieve on 2, and his 75-run stand withElton Chigumbura gave Zimbabwe hope. Both though, were forced to graft itout, with spinners operating from both ends. The pair managed just threeboundaries in a space of ten overs as the asking rate mounted. Razzak,Saqibul Hasan and Mohammad Rafique managed to combat the dew and stick toa restrictive line, not allowing any width as the trio conceded just 116runs in 30 overs. Mashrafe Mortaza, brought back for a second spell,rocked Zimbabwe further as Chigumbura gloved one down the leg side for 31,with his side still 98 adrift of the target. Williams and Keith Dabengwadid, however, revive Zimbabwe’s fortunes with a fluent 58-run stand, but it was too little too late. Razzak returned for his second spell and claimed two wickets to seal Zimbabwe’s fate.
Chris Mpofu fought back from a poor first spell to take four wickets © AFP
It was a pitch which tested the batsmen from both teams – Bangladesh’s batsmen struggled too after getting off to a flier. Put in to bat, Bangladeshlooked set to post a tall score as the openers, Nafees and MehrabHossain, exploited the wayward offerings by the Zimbabwe fast bowlers, who struggled to control the early swing. Nafees’s dismissal, caught brilliantly by GaryBrent at leg gully, brought Aftab Ahmed to the crease and he wasted notime in stating his intent, charging down the pitch against Ed Rainsford,picking up a streaky boundary down to third man, followed by a morecontrolled loft over midwicket. Unfortunately for Bangladesh, it ended upbeing one of his typical cameo knocks, as he top-edged a sweep to shortfine leg for 16, immediately after Prosper Utseya brought himself on.Zimbabwe then clawed back as several batsmen were guilty of hurrying into theirstrokes on a sluggish pitch.Bangladesh were comfortably placed at 100 for 2 at the end of the 20th over, but the next ten yielded only 25, owing to miserly spells by Utseya and Williams, the left-arm spinner. The reintroduction of Christopher Mpofu,the medium pacer who had a nightmare opening spell, yielded immediateresults as he accounted for Hossain and Habibul Bashar in quick succession- both dismissals characterised by the ball stopping on the batsmen.Mpofu later cleaned up the tail to pick up a four-wicket haul.With runs hard to come by, Ashraful finally broke the shackles with acouple of boundaries and showed more urgency with his running. Dabengwa, the third specialist spinner – who was held back by Utseya tillthe 42nd over – struck soon, with three quick wickets, accounting forKhaled Mashud, Rafique and Ashraful. The body language of the Zimbabweansreflected in their sprightly performance in the field, as they pouched some sharpcatches. Mashrafe Mortaza’s late-innings fireworks proved crucial as itlifted Bangladesh to 220, giving their bowlers a competitive total todefend.