Hard yards paying off for pacers
Bangladesh had the luxury of testing their depth ahead of the second and final T20I against Zimbabwe and it was a perfect platform for the likes of pacer Hasan Mahmud and opener Mohammad Naim Sheikh to showcase their talent.
It was refreshing to see Bangladesh enter the field with four seamers in the line-up as Al Amin Hossain returned to the side yesterday.
The team management made three changes from the first T20I, which they managed to win connivingly by 48 runs, as Tamim Iqbal, Shafiul Islam and Aminul Islam made way.
All eyes were on Hasan, who was making his T20I debut yesterday, and although the 20-year-old did not get a wicket, he did impress with pace and accuracy.
Hasan, who bowled his full quota of four overs, gave away 25 runs but, more importantly, managed to bowl eleven dot balls when the Zimbabwean batters were looking to score fast.
The cricketer from Laxmipur was part of the team for the T20I series against Pakistan in January but had not made it to the playing eleven until yesterday.
Hasan had caught selectors' eyes with his sheer pace during the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League and he showed that urge to bowl fast against Zimbabwe as well.
Apart from Hasan, the team management will also be glad to see the way Mustafizur Rahman bowled yesterday. The left-arm seamer scalped two wickets for 25 runs from his four overs and it was his tight line and length that crucially kept the Zimbabwean batters quiet.
Mohammad Saifuddin and Al Amin also joined the party as skipper Mahmudullah Riyad operated with four seamers in the first four overs of the innings, which was something rare from a Bangladeshi context in any format of the game.
Mahmudullah also praised the bowling performance from his team, saying: "Hasan bowled with good pace and showed his skills. Overall it was a good all-round bowling performance. The hunger was there. Last couple of series we were not up to the mark."
Saifuddin has been terrific both with bat and ball recently and he picked up a wicket while Al Amin bagged two scalps. Afif Hossain and Mahedi Hasan also scalped one each to restrict Zimbabwe to a rather small total of 119 for seven after 20 overs.
However, it was a stable start from the visitors as the experienced Brendon Taylor and Craig Ervine added 57 runs for the second wicket. But since Ervine's departure for a 33-ball 29, the Tigers kept things tight.
Taylor's unbeaten 59 was the visitors' highest, but it was never enough to set a platform that would concern the high-flying Bangladesh batsmen, who sealed a comprehensive nine-wicket win to sweep the two-match series.
There are tougher challenges in the coming days and although a youngster like Hasan will surely gain in confidence after making a decent debut, the Tigers still have a long way to go, especially in the pace-bowling department, as they work towards their aim of playing good cricket both home and away.
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