Bangladesh Zimbabwe T20 Series .
Second Match Played at SBNCS on 12 March 2020
Brief Scorecard
Bangladesh 120/1 in 15.5 overs ( Liton Das 60* ,Mohammad Naim 33 , Soumya Sarkar 20* ) beat Zimbabwe 119/7( BRM Taylor 59, CR Evans 29, Al Amin Hossain 2/22, Mustafizur Rahman 2/29) by 9 Wickets
Bangladesh Won The Series 2-0
Bangladesh won One Off Test , won ODI series 3-0
Player Of The Match Liton K Das
Player Of The Series : Liton K Das
Bangladesh again won thre second and the final T20 match against Zimbabwe very comfortably by 9 wickets cruising to 120/1 responding to soft Zimbabwe soft score of 119/7.
This massive Win and white washing visiting Zimbabwe in T20 series earned Bangladesh a comprehensive white wash of the tourists across all three formats One off test , ODI and T20 series . We can say it a very rare achievement for Bangladesh. Bangladesh did not achieve such feat even against the same opposition or against any team in the past. Off course one may argue saying that this was perhaps the weakest ever visiting team , weakest ever even Zimbabwean team. But win in international match is always a win and comprehensive series win is a rare achievement be it in a David Vs Goliath duel.
Bangladesh made three changes in the team on the day resting prolific opener Tamim Iqbal Khan with Rookie Mohammad Naim, letting Hasan Mahmud debut and bringing back Al Amin Hossain. Such changes did not alter the cases. As soon as Mahmudullah won the toss and elected to field he sounded beaming with confidence. Penetrative bowling and aggressive fielding kept the tourists very honest. Two senior players Taylor ( 59) and Ervine ( 29) could resist for a while adding 57 runs for the second wicket . But apart from them it was same old story. The tourist innings capitulated against very incisive Bangladesh attack. Could not assess clinically the quality of Bangladesh attack as the tourists batted so poorly that it could not even be compared teams against local premiere league. My mates kept me asking what we gain winning big against such a team of poor pedigree ?
Bangladesh in response was rocking. Liton is going through a purple patch of is career. He produced yet another scintillating display scoring unbeaten 60 in 45 deliveries striking 8 exquisite boundaries . His younger mate Mohammad Naim scored 33. The opening partnership produced 77 in 10.4 overs. Soumya joined Liton and was looking great once again. His unbeaten 20 in 15 balls contained two towering sixes . Bangladesh won huge and handsome by 9 wickets.
Any win in any international match gives lot of confidence to the winning team . It does not matter whether it is against Australia, India or Zimbabwe and earning comprehensive white wash across all formats itself is a huge achievement . Bangladesh required this so badly after itself looking extremely poor in the immediate past series against all three Sub Continental neighbors Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. Bangladesh even lost test against Afghanistan.. How these wins benefitted Bangladesh may soon be seen in the left over test and ODI against Pakistan and subsequent series against Ireland on tour and Australia at home . There are plenty other cricket assignments in 2020 including the T20 world cup in Australia in October .
It was great watching Tamim, Liton and Soumya back in their flamboyant best . Mushfique looked as usual prolific form. Others had rarely opportunities for battings such was the dominance of the top order . Bowling wise Mohammad Saifuddin is back with a bang and Mustafiz regained much of his confidence . Hope these wins make Bangladesh battle hardened against major opposition . Bangladesh must give better account of themselves against major opposition taking confidence and carrying their forms from the series .
Liton and Soumya had to take lot of criticism for not delivering regularly despite on the opportunities invested on them. This series witnessed Liton in glittering form. His bat kept blazing all the way. He has elevated himself to another level. He was very fittingly declared player of the match and player of th series. Soumya in two innings of T20 after early return to play after his marriage looked in prestine form. There was no doubt ever about the superlative class of Tamim. But he required runs and runs in his own belligerent form. He demonstrated that. We wish him great success as an ODI , successor of great Mashrafee . We also wish him runs in all formats consistently. Mushfique, Mahmudullah , Mithun , Shanto , Affif must take confidence from the series. Mushfique has all the right staying firm in his decision for not touring Pakistan . He must not be made annoyed repeatedly insisting for that . It was a great comeback for tweeting all rounder Saifuddin. Mustafiz has again started getting wickets and looking confident . Hope Afiff , Aminul , Taizul and Meraj can continue doing the difficult job that Shakib used to do . Bangladesh requires a balanced attack of quality pace bowlers , bowling all rounder and a quality leg spinner . It is too early to conclude . But perhaps we are going to get all these soon. These will make Bangladesh more competitive against major oppositions.
BRAVO TIGERS < YOU DID EXACTLY WHAT WAS EXPECTED > WINING SERIES AND EARNING COMPREHENSIVE WHITE WASH ACROSS ALL FORMATS IS A JOB WELL DONE
BDST: 0225 HRS, MAR 12, 2020
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