5-nil Satisfaction
Bangladesh made a happy-ending to an until-this-series sordid year at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
Mahmudullah Riyad slogged a length ball from Solomon Mire to the midwicket boundary to complete his match-winning half-century in the face of his side's batting jittery as the Tigers' 'mission whitewash' was accomplished against Zimbabwe with a five-wicket victory in the low-scoring fifth and final ODI.
Taijul Islam however hogged the spotlight in the year's last international engagement as the left-arm spinner became the first bowler in history to claim a hattrick on debut and was adjudged player-of-the-match for his figures of 4-11. The 22-year-old from Natore became the fourth Bangladeshi to claim a treble after Shahadat Hossain, Abdur Razzak and Rubel Hossain.
As expected, the clean sweep of the five-match ODI series followed the 3-0 victory in the Test series against the southern African nation, who had no answer to Bangladesh's spin attack even in the last game as Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul, along with tyro leg-spinner Jubair Hossain, bundled them up only for 128 runs after choosing to bat.
There was an interesting similarity between Bangladesh's first win and last win in the series. Firstly, Taijul made a Bangladesh record by taking highest eight wickets in an innings in the first Test and then he finished with the world record hattrick in the last ODI. And secondly, on both the occasions, though the first one was a Test match, the Bangladesh top order faltered in chase of small totals, which however caused a concern for the team management.
Winning a match with five wickets in hand and 153 balls remaining without any doubt statistically reflected a very comfortable victory, but it was not as clear-cut as the result showed. Had it not been for Riyad's unbeaten 51 off 55, which saw 10 sweetly timed boundaries, the outcome could have been different following Bangladesh's inept top-order batting in trying overcast conditions.
Bangladesh's batsmen got a little demonstration of what they might be up against in the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand both in the first Test and in the last ODI and they provided enough food for thought for the team management after the way the top order fell. The outcome of the series has definitely been a big boost for the Tigers as it not only brought back the confidence after losses after losses but also saw the top players get back their rhythm.
Tendai Chatara and Tinashe Panyangara tested Bangladesh's top order by using the bounce and movement, but in the end their total was too little to defend.
Earlier Zimbabwe decided to bat and Hamilton Masakadza gave his side a good start, but once he fell to Jubair, Shakib and Taijul destroyed the middle and lower orders as they were clueless to the spinners. They lost their last nine wickets for 33 runs.
Taijul first dismissed Mire at the start of the 27th over and then had Panyangara, John Nyumbu and Chatara off the last ball of the 27th and the first two balls of the 29th to complete his unique feat.
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