All-round Bangladesh level series in Bulawayo

Bangladesh clinched a resounding 34-run win in the second T20I against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on Friday to level the three-match series 1-1. After being bowled out for 138 and falling 32 runs short in the first encounter, Bangladesh responded with a strong batting performance and set Zimbabwe a 187-run target. In pursuit, the hosts slipped early before being bowled out for 152.

After opting to bat, Saif Hassan set the tone early with two boundaries in the opening over. While Richard Ngarava bowled a tight spell in the Powerplay, conceding just seven runs off his two overs, the other Zimbabwean bowlers struggled to contain scoring, partly due to fielding lapses with Saif dropped twice inside the first five overs.

After posting 54/0 in the Powerplay, the openers carried on with fluency. Tanzid Hasan Tamim reached his fifty in the 12th over, while Saif was dropped five times before reaching his fifty in the 14th. Zimbabwe finally broke the century opening stand in the 15th over when Sikandar Raza bowled Saif.

The wicket triggered a collapse as Bangladesh lost four further wickets in the next two overs to go from 120/0 to 137/4. Zimbabwe couldn't capitalize, however, as Yasir Ali struck three boundaries before Mohammad Saifuddin hit Evans for four sixes in the final over. Fielding lapses continued with Saifuddin dropped off the final delivery, taking the total drops to seven.

Zimbabwe's response began positively with Brian Bennett striking Mahedi Hasan for two fours and a six in the first over, but quickly withered. Tadiwanashe Marumani fell later in the same over while Bennett lost his stumps to Nahid Rana's pace in the next. Dion Myers failed to make an impact and while Sikandar Raza attempted to infuse momentum with a 12-ball 28, Zimbabwe found themselves in trouble at 65/4 when he fell in the seventh over.

Milton Shumba, who dropped four catches earlier, couldn't redeem himself and became Rishad Hossain's second victim after making a 20-ball 19. The hosts were never able to fight back thereafter. Ryan Burl's 29 and Evans' 25 were the only other notable contributions but neither got Zimbabwe close. They were bowled out for 152 in the 20th over. Rishad Hossain emerged as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-26.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 186/5 in 20 overs (Tanzid Hasan 58, Saif Hasan 55; Richard Ngarava 2-23) beat Zimbabwe 152 all-out in 19.2 overs (Ryan Burl 29; Rishad Hossain 4-26, Mahedi Hasan 3-24) by 34 runs.