Bangladesh’s ODI series against Zimbabwe commenced with a crushing victory for the tigers. Bangladesh won the first ODI by 155 runs on Friday (July 16). If Bangladesh win the next match, they will clinch the series. Bangladesh will play with the same confidence in the second match to wrap up the series with a game in hand. The best thing of the match was that both the senior and junior players made important contributions to the victory. Three reasons behind the tigers thumping win in the first match of the Bangladesh vs. Zimbabwe 2021 ODI series are discussed in this article.
Three Factors Contributed to Bangladesh’s Victory Over Zimbabwe
Liton Das’s Fantastic Hundred
Liton Das has had a terrible year, and he was under fire heading into the series-opener against Zimbabwe. However, the team management decided to give him another chance to start the innings with skipper Tamim Iqbal. Opener Liton Das seized the opportunity and played a key knock after the early exits of three senior players – Tamim, Shakib, and Mithun.
Liton Das remained at the crease till the 42nd over, when he was bowled by Ngarava. Prior to that, Liton had a responsible 102-run knock, his fourth ODI century. He also formed two key partnerships during the contest. At first, he and Mahmudullah put together a 93-run stand to rebuild the team’s innings. After that, he made 40 runs with Afif, helping Bangladesh in surpassing the 200-run barrier. Overall, Liton’s role in Bangladesh’s victory in this match was vital.
Effective Partnership Between Liton and Mahmudullah
Bangladesh’s innings was carried over by opener Liton Das and veteran all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad after losing four wickets for 74 runs in 19 overs. They had put up a 93-run fifth-wicket stand to take the total close to 200. Stylish opener Liton Das was the more aggressive of the two. On the other side, Mahmudullah Riyad scored 33 runs off 52 balls.
Bangladesh’s score would not have reached 250 if it hadn’t been for this pair. One of the match’s decisive phases was Liton and Mahmudullah’s solid partnership. Apart from this partnership, talented all-rounder Afif Hossain (45) and off-spinner Mehidy Hasan (26) both played vital innings for Bangladesh.
Shakib Al Hasan’s Superb Spin Bowling
Bangladesh’s best-ever player Shakib Al Hasan had an amazing performance in the first ODI. He passed Mashrafe Mortaza for the most ODI wickets for Bangladesh after taking five wickets against Zimbabwe on Friday. Shakib was proving to be a highly effective bowler with his outstanding performance in the first match. Captain Tamim Iqbal introduced Shakib Al Hasan with the aim of maintaining constant pressure on the Zimbabwean team in the early stages of the innings.
Shakib did a fantastic job of repaying the captain’s faith in him. Shakib took Bangladesh’s fourth wicket by sending veteran Brendon Taylor to the pavilion in the 15th over. He then took four more wickets to completely demolish Zimbabwe’s middle order in the middle of the innings. Shakib, who claimed his third five-wicket haul in ODIs for Bangladesh, was instrumental in the team’s first-match triumph. Shakib finished his spell with a tally of 9.5-3-30-5.
Source: United News of Bangladesh