Tigers begin new era with a bang

Bangladesh made a light work of Zimbabwe to get off-the mark in their new era with an eight-wicket win in the opening match of the tri-nation one-day international tournament in Dhaka on Monday.
Sakib al Hasan claimed 3-43 before scoring 37 runs and Tamim Iqbal did the rest as the Tigers eased to 171-2 with more than 21 overs to spare after bowling out Zimbabwe cheaply for 170.
Tamim feasted on some wayward bowling to score an unbeaten 84 off 93 balls as Bangladesh cruised to their ninth successive win over Zimbabwe, their longest winning streak against any side in one-dayer. 
The Tigers could not have expected a better way to start their first one-dayer at home for more than a year than the way they did as Sakib put them on top in the very first over with a double strike.
Zimbabwe came with a lot of preparation to handle Bangladesh’s spin bowling 
but did not do any better than what they did in the past and a measured effort by Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain, who both claimed two wickets respectively for 29 and 24 runs, also did not help their cause.
Solomon Mire had no idea about what to do once Sakib bowled him a wide in what was only the second ball of the game and tournament.
He went forward but almost inevitably missed the line before Mushfiqur Rahim completed a simple stumping.
A nervous Craig Ervine opted for a catching practice lofting Sakib to midwicket three balls later, which left Zimbabwe reduced to 2-2 before the first over was completed.
It was always going to be difficult for Zimbabwe to recover from the damage and they could 
not do that either, thanks largely to Bangladesh’s seamers, who exploited the fog hovering over to generate some late swing too tough to handle.
Brendan Taylor showed some sign of recovery playing his first ODI since accepting the Kolpak deal in 2015 but once Mustafiz took an edge from his bat to dismiss the former captain for 24 and Zimbabwe were never in the game.
Sikandar Raza batted doggedly and scored 52 runs but he never looked threatening during his 99-ball innings despite hitting Mustafiz and Sakib for two sixes respectively.
Rubel ensured Peter Moor, who made second highest 33 runs, did not provide any late blows bowling him out in the 48th over before completing his 100th wicket as the fifth Bangladeshi off the next ball.
Zimbabwe’s innings ended with a gem of a delivery, an off-cutter that made Mustafiz so famous as the bowler uprooted the off-stump of debutant Blessing Muzarabani in the penultimate over.
Bangladesh started their run chase in a contrasting manner as Anamul Haque came to the crease with a great intent in his comeback match after World Cup 2015.
Anamul, however, paid the price for his over aggression as he swept Raza to deep square leg for Ervine to take a dolly after the opener made 19 off 14 balls.
Zimbabwe’s only other success in the game was limited to Sakib’s leg-before dismissal to Raza, which denied the all-rounder a bigger feat but could not deny Bangladesh essentially.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net