Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, 2020: A series of new records for Bangladesh in ODI cricket

Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das made the most of the 3-match ODI series against Zimbabwe where they tallied 312 and 311 runs respectively. Both the opening batsmen struck two tons apiece in the series where they also rewrote the highest ODI score for Bangladesh. Their efforts helped Zimbabwe post 320+ totals in all three matches which were new in the annals of Bangladesh ODI cricket. The whitewash witnessed Bangladesh register their 100th International win at home and also their 50th ODI win under Mashrafe Mortaza who resigned from his position.

All the stats and records created by Bangladesh and their opening pair during the 3-match ODI series against Zimbabwe:

1 – Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal became the first set of openers to score multiple hundreds in the same 3-match ODI series. Overall, they are only the 4th pair with two or more tons in a bilateral ODI series for the same team.

Sanath Jayasuriya-Upul Tharanga for Sri Lanka against England in 2006, Kevin Pietersen-Alastair Cook for England against Pakistan in 2012 and Fakhar Zaman-Imam-ul-Haq for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in 2018 scored multiple hundreds while opening the innings; all three during 5-match ODI series.

2 – Liton-Tamim recorded only the 2nd instance of two players scoring multiple hundreds in a 3-match bilateral ODI series. AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla scored two centuries apiece in the 3-match ODI series against Zimbabwe in 2020.

2 – Bangladesh posted totals of 320+ in all the three matches of this series. They are now only the 2nd team in Men’s ODI history with three 320+ totals in a 3-match series. England also had three 320+ totals in all three matches of the 3-match series against India at the start of 2017.

10 – Liton Das became the first player from Bangladesh to smash 10 sixes in an ODI series/tournament. Liton struck 8 out of those 10 sixes during the final match of the series.

28 – The 28 sixes by Bangladesh in this series are also the most by them in an ODI series/tournament. The previous sixes hit by Bangladesh in an ODI series/tournament was 25 each in the World Cup and during the Ireland Tri-series last year.

40 – Tamim Iqbal smashed as many as 40 fours in this series which was the most by any player in a 3-match ODI series in Men’s cricket. He went past the 39 fours hit by Herschelle Gibbs during the 2002 home series against Bangladesh.

300+ – Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das scored 312 and 311 runs respectively in this series; the first-ever instance of two players aggregating 300+ runs in a 3-match ODI series, let alone for the same team. Only Imrul Kayes (349 vs Zimbabwe in 2018) scored 300+ runs in a 3-match ODI series for Bangladesh before this series.

390 – The 390 runs aggregated by Tamim and Liton pair in this series are the most partnership runs in a 3-match ODI series in Men’s cricket. They went past the 385 runs between Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan during the 3-match ODI series in 2018 against West Indies in the Caribbean.

These 390 partnership runs are also the most for a Bangladesh pair during a bilateral ODI series and the 2nd most in any series/tournament in ODI format. The duo of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim shared 448 runs across 7 partnerships in the 2019 World Cup.