Bulawayo: Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza reached a major milestone in his international career in the third and final T20I against Bangladesh at the Queen’s Sports Club on Sunday.
Rasa surpassed former all-rounder Hamilton Masakatsa’s previous record of 313 appearances to top Zimbabwe’s all-time list with his 314th international cap.
Former captain Brendan Taylor is third with 303 caps and the trio are the only Zimbabweans to have played more than 300 internationals.
The veteran all-rounder has amassed 9,095 international runs and has taken 245 wickets in Tests, One Day Internationals and T20 Internationals. His career achievements include nine centuries and three five-wicket hauls.
Most internationals played for Zimbabwe (Test, ODI and T20):
- Sikandar Raza – 314
- Hamilton Masakatsa – 313
- Brendan Taylor – 303
- Grand Malar – 288
- Elton Chikumbura – 281
- Andy Malar – 276
Despite reaching the historic milestone, Raza could not inspire Zimbabwe to victory as Bangladesh won the series-decider by four wickets to clinch the three-match T20I series 2-1.
Chasing 144, opener Tansit Hasan’s unbeaten 66 for 6 in 19.4 overs allowed Bangladesh to reach the target. His 58 balls included a four and 4 sixes.
Wicketkeeper-batter Pervez Hossain Emon and captain Dawhid Hridoi contributed 24 runs each, while Yasir Ali helped Bangladesh complete the chase with 10 runs.
Earlier, Zimbabwe posted 143-7 in their allotted 20 overs, built around a battling half-century from Dion Myers and a solid opening partnership with Brian Bennett.
Myers top scored 73 off 53 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes while Bennett scored 47 off 38 balls including 8 fours.