A sparkling century from opener Vusi Sibanda propelled Zimbabwe to a seven-wicket win and a series victory over Bangladesh after the third and final one-day international in Bulawayo on Wednesday.Set 248 to win, Zimbabwe never looked in trouble with Sibanda leading from the front. He hit the winning runs to go to his second one-day international century off 135 balls with nine fours and two sixes as he finished unbeaten on 103.
Sibanda was given excellent support by Sean Williams, who went to his second half-century in as many matches and finished on 55 not out.
“To lose so convincingly in the first game and come back and put together two important wins shows a lot of character and that we are moving in the right direction,” said Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor.
“We have always rated Vusi Sibanda very highly, I think it has been seven years since his last hundred so we are pleased for him. I am sure he will kick-on now.”
Asked to bat first, Bangladesh were reeling at 110 for five wickets before Nasir Hossain (63) steadied the innings in partnership with Mahmudullah who hit an unbeaten 75.
Their efforts took Bangladesh to a respectable 247 for nine but it was a target that Zimbabwe always looked likely to chase down.
Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza (41) put on 79 for the first wicket as Bangladesh battled to get the early wickets they needed on a flattening pitch.
“We didn’t bat well again and they made early inroads into our top five. I thought we bowled quite well, but we were 20 or 30 runs short. The wicket got flatter in the second innings and it is never easy to beat them at home,” Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said.
The teams now play a two-match T20 series on Saturday and Sunday, with both games in Bulawayo. (Reporting by Nick Said in Cape Town, editing by Justin Palmer)
Mushfiqur Rahim will quit as captain of Bangladesh after two Twenty20 internationals against Zimbabwe this weekend.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur made the announcement after Bangladesh lost the third one-day international by seven wickets on Wednesday, conceding a one-day series to Zimbabwe despite beating them by a record margin in the first match.
The Tigers began their tour of Zimbabwe as favourites after an encouraging trip to Sri Lanka, but lost the first Test by 335 runs before winning the second to earn a share of the series.
“This is probably my last tour as captain,” he told reporters after Wednesday’s defeat. “I will resign once we get back to Dhaka.
“The reason is the way we lost the games and at the same time I failed to perform. I think I failed to lead my team, so the two T20 matches will be my last as captain.”
The 24-year-old only took over as Bangladesh captain in September 2011, after his predecessor Shakib Al Hasan was removed from the job.
Shakib’s dismissal also came in the wake of a tour to Zimbabwe, when the African side won the one-off Test that signalled their return to the five-day game and triumphed 3-2 in the one-day series that followed.
(Sources: Reuters, news24.com via google news)
