Zimbabwe seal ODI series in dramatic style
Zimbabwe snatched an astonishing victory over Bangladesh at Harare
Sports Club here Tuesday to win their five-match ODI series three up and
two to play.
They got home with just four balls to spare, grabbing the final
Bangladesh wicket with a boundary catch when the tourists needed only
six runs to win themselves.
Zimbabwe, having been put into bat, made 250 for seven wickets down,
with Bangladesh 245 all out in reply as darkness was closing in.
Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taykor said afterwards: "This was absolutely
awesome, the most exhilarating match of my life and the most dramatic
for all Zimbabweans.
"I was never sure we had enough with our 250 runs effort and so it
almost proved. It just shows that you never know in cricket. I am really
proud of the team for sticking to their guns, not just in this match but
for the entire tour so far."
A century in exactly 100 balls by Mushfuqur Rahim in a gallant
attempt to get his Bangladeshis home was almost lost in the excitement.
It was his first in internationals and he simply needed a good partner
to achieve victory.
The match started in dismal fashion for Zimbabwe when Brendan Taylor
was out for three runs, his third successive failure. Sibanda steadied
his team with 26. But then came what turned out to be a winning
partnership of 142 between Hamilton Mazakadza, who made 74 and Tatenda
Taibu who scored 83. AFP
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