Liton Das’ century and Shakib Al Hasan’s five wickets helped Bangladesh defeat Zimbabwe by 155 runs in the opening match of their three One-Day Internationals on Friday at the Harare Sports Club. Liton struck 102 as Bangladesh recovered from a shaky start to post 276-9 in 50 overs before knocking Zimbabwe out for a meagre 121.
At 74-4, Bangladesh seemed to be in trouble, but Das and Mahmudullah rescued them with a 93-run partnership, putting them on track for an impressive total on a challenging wicket. Afif Hossain scored 45 off 35 balls while Luke Jongwe took 3-51, who had lost their one-off test against Bangladesh at the same venue earlier this week.
Zimbabwe responded with Regis Chakabva scoring 54, but they were unable to form any significant partnerships as a flurry of rash strokes cost them crucial wickets. By bowling a brilliant spell of 5-30 in the match, Shakib Al Hasan became Bangladesh’s leading ODI wicket-taker with 274 wickets surpassing Mashrafe Mortaza.
Timycen Maruma’s hamstring injury on the field also meant Zimbabwe was one batter short as their innings ended in only the 29th over. On Sunday, the two teams will clash in Harare for their second One-Day International.
