Mushfiqur Rahim's ton sinks Zimbabwe in the first ODI of the series

Mushfiqur Rahim slammed a ton

Bangladesh overpowered Zimbabwe in the first ODI of the 3-match series played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur by 145 runs. The Tigers have won the ODI series against giants of the game, Pakistan, India and South Africa before the series against their African counterparts.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bowl first in the day-night clash. Bangladesh did not have a great start as Litton Das was dismissed by Luke Jongwe in the second over itself without scoring a run. Mahmudullah was the next to depart as the hosts lost their initial two wickets with only 30 runs on the board.

That was when Mushfiqur Rahim walked in and along with Tamim Iqbal added 70 runs for the team. The opener was ousted by Sikandar Raza, as the batsman only managed to loft the ball into fielder’s hand at long on. Iqbal made 40 runs. However, Rahim was in full flow and went on to score a century for his team.

World’s best all-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan did not manage to score a big one, as he lost his wicket after adding 16 runs for himself and the team. Sabbir Rehman was the one who joined hands with Rahim to add 119 runs for the fifth wicket. The wicketkeeper completed his hundred in the 45th over, just one over after Sabbir completed his half-century. This was Rahim’s fourth ODI ton.

However, the duo lost their wickets in two back to back overs, and it needed a cameo from Mashrafe Mortaza to get Bangladesh to a respectable total of 273 for 9. Rahim was the highest scorer with 107 runs and Sabbir scored 57 runs.

Zimbabwe started their innings quite sluggishly and never looked like they can stage a fight against the Tigers. They lost their first wicket in Chibhabha with only 40 runs on the board.

Craig Ervine, Jongwe and Sean Williams subsequently lost their wickets in the span of 25 runs. Shakib wreaked havoc as he managed a 5-wicket haul and annihilated the Zimbabwe batting line-up.

Elton Chigumbura was the only one to show some resistance, he scored 41 runs and was the last player to be dismissed, as the African team managed only 128 runs in total. Ultimately, Bangladesh won the match by 145 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the series.