Tigers seal commanding eight wicket win against Zimbabwe

Bangladesh have scored 156 runs losing just two wickets and chased down their target with six ball to spare to win the first T20I against hosts Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club ground at Harare on Thursday.

Opener Soumya Sarkar scored 50 off 45 balls before getting out in 14^th over.  Other opener Mohammad Naim scored unbeaten 66 run off 51 balls with seven boundaries. 

Earlier, Zimbabwe have scored 152 runs losing all of their wickets from nineteen overs. Regis Chakabva was the top scorer for Zimbabwe with 43 run innings while Dion Myers scored 35.

Mustafizur Rahman picked three wickets for Bangladesh while Mohammad Saifuddin and Shoriful Islam took two wickets each.

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and elect to bat first.

Bangladesh have already won the one off Test match series and secure the ODI series by 3-0 during Zimbabwe tour.

The second match of the three match series will be held at the same venue and will start from 4:30pm, Bangladesh time, on Friday.

Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah said after the match, "The situation was like that, I wanted to go from the first ball, and we wanted to show intent - credit to the top-order batters to set the platform. The bowlers took quick wickets and they were the ones who set things up for us towards the end from a poor position. The wicket stayed the same throughout, and we wanted to use our batting depth as well. I hope we come out with the same intent and we play a good game tomorrow."

Soumya Sarkar, Man of the Match said, "I always try in the field, and tried my best with the ball too according to the plan but I would have liked it if I could finish things with the bat. Initially they bowled well, but I needed to take my time, and that turned out to be the right decision."

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said after the match, "We were looking at 170+ and we were short. We did good things, but didn't execute well, and I'm sure we can have a good game tomorrow. The lower middle order didn't fire, and not batting the last over was criminal, and I take some responsibility for that. You expect 1-2 overs in a powerplay to go for runs, so we did that okay, and we have to stick to bowling plans a touch longer. Hopefully we can be calmer at the death tomorrow and come out with a win. I wouldn't have minded it if they batted all 20 overs and lost the game. Tomorrow hopefully the new ball takes some wickets for us."

Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Regis Chakabva(w), Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tarisai Musakanda, Dion Myers, Wesley Madhevere, Sikandar Raza(c), Ryan Burl, Luke Jongwe, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Mohammad Naim, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah(c), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan(w), Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam