Bulawayo: Brian Bennett’s unbeaten 44 and four wickets from Blessing Musarabani and Richard Ngarawa helped Zimbabwe win the first T20I of the three-match series against Bangladesh by 32 runs at the Queen’s Sports Club on Wednesday.
Bangladesh captain Towhid Hridoy’s decision to field first backfired as the home team amassed 170/6 in their 20 overs, courtesy of a joint effort.
Chevrons’ right-arm opener Bennett top-scored with 44 off 30 balls with 6 fours and a six, while fellow all-rounder Ryan Burl remained unbeaten on 30 off 25 balls with 2 fours and a six.
Apart from them, top-order batsman Dion Myers, skipper Sikandar Raza, 20 each, and all-rounder Brad Evans (19 not out) made significant contributions to the home team’s total.
Fast bowler Nahid Rana was the best bowler for Bangladesh with 4 wickets for 26 runs in his four overs, while Mohammad Saipuddin claimed 2 wickets.
Chasing a tough target of 171 runs, the tour team could muster 138 runs in 19 overs despite Yasir Ali’s brave half-century.
The middle-order batsman struggled for Bangladesh, scoring 54 off 38 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours, but there was no support from the other end as Mahedi Hasan was the next best run-getter with 19 off 18 balls.
Other Bangladeshi batsmen including openers Thansid Hasan (16) and Saif Hasan (12) and skipper Hridoi (14) were able to score double figures against a dominant Zimbabwe bowling attack, who were jointly led by Musharrafani and Ngarawa who shared eight wickets.
Musharrafani was the most economical of the two pacers as he conceded just 17 runs in his four overs, while Ngarawa, who conceded nine overs, was adjudged the man of the match.