Tri-Series 2018, Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, 5th ODI- 5 Talking Points

The fifth-match of tri-series involving Zimbabwe and Bangladesh has been a one-way affair, inclined towards the host. The match was scheduled to take place at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium the toss fell in Mashrafe Mortaza’s favour and he decided to bat. After losing Anamul early, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan stitched an important partnership, which also saw them reach their respective fifties. However, the slide started once Rahim got out, from 147 for 2, the hosts slipped to 170 for 8.

Cameos from Sunzamul Islam and Mustafizur took Bangladesh over the 200-run mark. After the first innings, Zimbabwe would have been mighty pleased with their bowling effort as the visitors were in the game after the half-way mark. However, little did they know that the surface would just get tougher.

The Bangladeshi bowlers bowled with a proper plan and were able to pick wickets at the right time and eventually managed to upstage the opposition by 91 runs. The win against Zimbabwe also secured their place in the all-important final. Here are the 5 Talking Points from today’s encounter:

1. Tamim Iqbal continued his good run

The Bangladeshi openers Tamim and Anamul Haque started the proceedings. In a fifty-over match, it’s important to capitalize on the start and set the momentum for the coming batsman. However, Anamul Haque, the other opener was struck on pads and departed for a mere score of one. With this, it was important for Tamim Iqbal to set the tone and play maturely. He didn’t play one loose short and went on to score 76 runs off 105 balls at a healthy strike-rate of 72.38. The innings was laced with six boundaries.

2. Shakib Al Hasan- Man of the Match

In last few innings, it has been seen that skipper Mashrafe seems to be promoting the batting all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan to number three spot. Further, Shakib has been nothing short of phenomenal, proving his stature once again and making it count when the team required the most. The 30-year-old all-rounder contributed both with the bat as well as the ball. He made a steady half-century and picked important wickets at the start which eventually had put Zimbabwe at back foot and ended his spell with three.

3. Graeme Cremer the lone warrior

It has been rightly said that cricket is a team game and all the players need to bring their best game for the team to win as individual efforts cannot take the team over the line every time. The same happened with skipper Cremer who worked regressively with full fortitude to restrict Bangladeshi batsmen for 200 odd runs by picking 4 important wickets. However, when Zimbabwe players came out to bat, no one really got going and eventually lost all ten wickets.

4. Bangladesh‘s all-round effort

The hosts have evolved as a team and have developed into a different team altogether. In this tri-series, Bangladesh have won all their three games and the reason for their win seems to be the all-round effort in all three departments. Today, after scoring 216 runs on the board their bowlers put the best foot forward and bowled with the right plan and were able to upstage Zimbabwe by 91 runs.

5. Sikandar Raza showed intent

As Zimbabwe lost wickets in almost every third over, they needed someone to step up and anchor the innings to get them over the line. In this stint, it was only the middle-order batsman Sikandar Raza who showed some intent and tried to play till the end. With the run-rate mounting, he swung his bat hard and lost his wicket to Mustafizur Rahman. He managed to score 39 runs for his side.

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