Rishad and Taskin bowl Bangladesh to 2-0 lead against Zimbabwe

Towhid Hridoy kept his calm and hit pressure-releasing boundaries to steer Bangladesh to a six-wicket victory in the second T20I against Zimbabwe in Chattogram. The home side chased down the target of 139 with six wickets and nine balls in hand to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.

Hridoy struck two sixes and three fours in his unbeaten 25-ball 37, adding 31 runs for the fourth wicket with Jaker Ali, and another 49 for the fifth with Mahmudullah, who struck a massive six in his unbeaten 26 off 16 balls.

The victory was once again underpinned by Bangladesh’s bowlers, who restricted Zimbabwe for the second successive game. Taksin Ahmed was the best of the attack, taking 2 for 18 in four overs, while legspinner Rishad Hossain struck twice in an over to jolt Zimbabwe’s middle order.

Zimbabwe owed most of their runs to newcomers Johnathan Campbell and Brian Bennett who added 73 runs off 43 balls for the sixth wicket to rescue them from 42 for 5. Campbell’s 45 is now Zimbabwe’s highest score on T20I debut, while Bennett scored an unbeaten 44.

The Zimbabwe top order struggled to get going in the powerplay. Though they lost only one wicket – Tadiwanshe Marumani pinned lbw by Taskin – they kept hitting the fielders or were late on shots. They scored only 22 runs in the first six overs and did not hit a boundary in that phase for only the second time in T20 cricket. It was also only the second time that Bangladesh did not concede a boundary in the powerplay.

Joylord Gumbie finally found the boundary in the seventh over but fell in the next, holing out to mid-off for 17, the lowest score for a Zimbabwe opener in an innings of at least 30 balls. Rishad ‘s double strike in the tenth over was a crucial phase of the game, as he got rid of Zimbabwe’s captain Sikandar Raza and Clive Madande, their top-scorer from the first T20I

Craig Ervine’s mis-timed sweep off Mahedi Hasan reduced Zimbabwe to 42 for 5 in the 11th over and another sub-par total seemed inevitable.

Johnathan Campbell, the son of former Zimbabwe captain Alistair, gave his team something to bowl at with a brisk innings on debut. He was dropped when he was on 1 – wicketkeeper Jaker Ali ran towards square-leg but could not catch the mis-hit off Mahedi Hasan – and went on to hit three sixes and four fours in his innings off 45 off 24 balls, adding 73 for the sixth wicket with Bennett.

Campbell swung Shoriful Islam for Zimbabwe’s first six in the 13th over and Bennett smacked Taskin over midwicket in the 15th. Campbell then hammered Rishad and Saifuddin for sixes in the next two overs; Bennett slammed Shoriful straight in the 18th over.

After Campbell’s dismissal, Bennett gave Zimbabwe a strong finish, hitting a four and a six as they took 18 off the final over. He finished on an unbeaten 44 off 29 balls, and Zimbabwe ended on 138 for 7.

Bangladesh made a decent start in their chase. Litton Das, struggling for runs in white-ball cricket this year, ramp-scooped Blessing Muzarabani for a six over the wicketkeeper in the second over. His opening partner Tanzid Hasan slugged Ainsley Ndlovu for his first six in the fourth over. But left-arm spinner Ndlovu made the first breakthrough for Zimbabwe in the sixth over when Tanzid mistimed a slightly quicker delivery to the midwicket.

Just when it looked like Bangladesh had the chase in their grasp, things started to happen. Litton was dropped by Luke Jongwe off Raza on 21. Jongwe then made up for the mistake with two wickets in his following over: captain Najmul Hossain Shanto caught at long-and Litton at backward point for 23

Towhid and Jaker Ali steadied the chase before picking up boundaries from the 12th over. Jaker launched Jongwe over midwicket for his first six after Hridoy slapped him through point for four. Hridoy’s finesse came to the fore when he lightly cut Raza for four through third-man.

When Richard Ngarava dismissed Jaker in the 14th over, it brought Bangladesh’s best finishers together. With 33 needed in the last four overs, Hridoy and Mahmudullah brought the chase under control by scoring 16 off the 17th over from Jongwe.

Mahmudullah launched Richard Ngarava over midwicket for a 103m six, and then Hridoy’s dispatched him over fine leg for six more to all but end the game.

Brief scores:
Bangladesh 142 for 4 in 18.3 overs  (Litton Das 23, Towhid Hridoy 37*, Mohammad Mahmudullah 26*; Richard Ngarava 1-32, Luke Jongwe 3-35, Ainsley Ndlovu 1-25) beat  Zimbabwe 138 for 7 in 20 overs (Jonathan Campbell 45, Brian Bennett 44*, Shoriful Islam 1-26, Mahedi Hasan 1-18, Taskin Ahmed 2-18, Mohammad Saiffudin 1-37, Rishad Hossain  2-33) by six wickets