All-round Shakib sinks Zim again
All-round Shakib sinks Zim again
When Shakib Al Hasan received his six-month disciplinary ban in July, there were talks about how the all-rounder pondered about playing an extra year of international cricket to make things even. With the suspension reduced, it seems the gap in play not at all affected his hunger to make up for the lost time.
The ace all-rounder followed his record-breaking feats in the Test series with yet another brilliant performance with both bat and ball as the Tigers snapped a 13-match losing streak, beating Zimbabwe by 87 runs in the first of the five-match ODI series at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury (ZACS) in Chittagong yesterday.
Shakib scored a quickfire 101 -- his first ODI century in four years -- propelling the hosts from 70 for 4 to 281 for 7, before scalping four Zimbabwe batsmen as the visitors were bundled out for 194 in 42.1 overs.
The all-round performance made Shakib only the 12th cricketer to score a century and take a four-wicket haul in an ODI. Had he gotten a fifth, he would have joined the ranks of Sir Vivian Richards and Paul Collingwood as the third cricketer to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in an ODI.
But records apart, it was Shakib's performance with both bat and ball which proved crucial to the outcome. Chasing 282, Zimbabwe's openers had made a brisk start, putting on 47 in 7.2 overs, before Shakib struck twice -- sending back opener Sikandar Raza and one-down batsman Vusi Sibanda in space of three deliveries. The other two spinners -- Mahmudullah Riyad and Arafat Sunny -- proved as effective as they stemmed the flow of runs, earning themselves four wickets. Skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza returned midway through the innings to remove the dangerous Brendan Taylor, who had scored a well-paced half-century. Mashrafe's delivery caught the shoulder of Taylor's bat and Mushfiqur took a brilliant catch, diving full-length to his right, extinguishing Zimbabwe's hopes of a resistance.
Earlier, it was a Shakib's bat that got the Tigers' out of a rot. The left-hander had come in to bat as at three for 31, after Zimbabwe pacers had vindicated their captain's decision to bowl first.
But Shakib was having none of the pressure. Barely a few minutes into his innings, the 27-year-old, like he often does, chased a wide delivery. He got lucky as the edge flew over gully for a boundary. Shakib mistimed a few drives in the next few overs before eventually deciding to deal in singles. Mushfiqur Rahim, at the other end, was giving him the support and the two of them added 148 runs in the fifth-wicket partnership -- the highest fifth-wicket stand for Bangladesh -- to get the side out of trouble and towards a big score.
Midway through his innings, Shakib dispatched John Nyumbu for two boundaries and reached his half-century in 54 balls in the 31st over. In the 40th over, Shakib hit the best of his ten boundaries as he went down the track to a short and wide delivery and smashed it through the covers for four.
Shakib eventually reached his sixth ODI ton off 95 balls, with an easy single in the 43rd over and celebrated in style. He performed a 360-degree salute of sorts by unleashing imaginary drives with his hands to every corner of the park. His partner Mushfiqur seemed as elated as he had begun celebrating the century even before the pair had completed the run. The former captain did his bit as well, scoring 65 off 72 balls.
However, with three overs to spare, both the batsmen were sent back. The hosts had 240 runs on the board at that moment and all they needed was a grandstand finish, which was provided by debutant Sabbir Rahman. The young all-rounder whipped three towering sixes and three boundaries for a 25-ball 44 as the Tigers reached a more than challenging total.