Zimbabwe win ODI series against Bangladesh:Defeat by 13 runs in second match; Ben Curran scores unbeaten 111 runs

In the second ODI played at Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe defeated Bangladesh by 13 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Batting first, Zimbabwe scored 247 runs for 6 wickets. In reply, the Bangladesh team was all out for 234 in 48.1 overs. The hero of Zimbabwe’s victory was opening batsman Ben Curran, who played an unbeaten innings of 111 runs and steadied Zimbabwe’s innings. In the end, Brad Evans scored an unbeaten 58 runs with quick batting. Both added an unbroken 99 runs for the seventh wicket. Curran steadied the innings amidst early setbacks In the match that started at 9:30 AM at Harare Sports Club, the pitch had moisture and was providing good assistance to the bowlers. Taking advantage of this, Bangladesh took three wickets of Zimbabwe for 32 runs. After this, Ben Curran took charge. Initially, he seemed to struggle a bit, but after getting set, he showed a good balance of patience and aggressive batting. He completed his second ODI career century by scoring an unbeaten 118 runs. With this, he became the seventh Zimbabwean batsman to bat for all 50 overs in an ODI innings. Curran also got a lifeline when he was on a personal score of 4 runs. Towhid Hridoy dropped his difficult catch at short cover. 99* run partnership between Evans and Curran Towards the end of Zimbabwe’s innings, Brad Evans scored runs quickly. Evans, who came in at number 8, scored only 2 runs off the first 7 balls, but then adopted an aggressive approach. In the last over of the innings, he hit three consecutive sixes off three balls from Taskin Ahmed. Evans returned unbeaten with 58 runs. All 5 sixes hit in Zimbabwe’s innings came from his bat. Evans and Curran’s unbeaten 99-run partnership took Zimbabwe to a strong total. Madhevere and Raza could not convert good starts into big innings Wesley Madhevere batted aggressively against Nahid Rana, scoring 11 runs in the 13th over, but got out shortly after. After this, Sikandar Raza added 68 runs for the fourth wicket with Ben Curran. However, he could not convert his good start into a big innings and was caught at cover off Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s bowling. After this, Clive Madande also returned to the pavilion quickly. At one point, Zimbabwe’s score was 148 runs for 6 wickets, but Curran and Evans rescued the team from trouble and put them in a strong position. Bangladesh’s strategy did not work Bangladesh gave a chance to Shoriful Islam instead of Mustafizur Rahman in this match. The team played Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, and Mosaddek Hossain as additional spin options, but this strategy did not prove effective. Initially, Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana bowled brilliantly, but in the middle and final overs, Zimbabwe’s batsmen easily scored runs against the spinners. Especially in the last overs, Curran and Evans quickly gathered runs, changing the course of the match. Bangladesh’s Innings Collapsed from 3 Wickets for 169 Runs Chasing a target of 248 runs, Bangladesh got off to a good start. At one point, the team’s score was 169 runs for 3 wickets and they seemed to be heading towards victory. Tanzid Hasan scored 57 runs off 70 balls, while Towhid Hridoy played an innings of 60 runs off 90 balls. Both added 84 runs off 107 balls for the third wicket, steadying the innings. However, after this, Zimbabwe’s bowlers turned the tide of the match. Bangladesh lost two wickets adding just 7 runs between 169 and 176 runs. After this, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. The team lost its sixth wicket at 211 runs and by the time it reached 222 runs, it had also lost its eighth wicket. From here, the match completely went in Zimbabwe’s favor and Bangladesh remained far from the target. Captain Ngarava turned the match in his last spell Zimbabwe captain Richard Ngarava did not give Bangladesh’s lower order a chance to recover in the final overs. Bangladesh’s last six wickets fell within just 65 runs. Ngarava took the crucial wickets of Nurul Hasan (38) and Mosaddek Hossain (7) in his third spell. After that, on the last ball of his final over, he had Mehidy Hasan Miraz caught out at deep square leg, ending Bangladesh’s innings. With this, Zimbabwe won both the match and the series. Controversy arose over umpiring due to the absence of DRS The absence of DRS in the series also led to controversy regarding umpiring. Bangladesh needed 17 runs from 17 balls for victory when Mehidy Hasan Miraz expressed his displeasure to the umpire for not calling a ball wide. However, under the new ODI rules, the bowler gets extra leeway if the batsman moves in the crease, and Mehidy had shifted towards the leg stump, so the umpire did not consider the ball wide. Earlier, two catch appeals by Zimbabwe were also rejected, which left the host team dissatisfied.