Tamim’s first ton as captain help Tigers secure clean sweep overseas after 12 yrs

Tamim Iqbal as captain registered his first century while an energetic 45 off 39 balls of Nurul Hasan made a steep target of 299 runs set up by hosts Zimbabwe in the third One Day International match of the three-match series child’s play.

The Tigers chased down the target in exactly 48 overs as they scored 302 runs losing only five wickets at Harare Sports Club ground on Tuesday.

With this, Bangladesh whitewashed any country overseas for the first time in 12 years. Led by Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh achieved that honour beating West Indies in 2009.

Today, Shakib’s performance was not so bright especially after his masterful knock of undefeated 96 in the second ODI. He picked up one wicket from his 10 overs giving away 46 runs and scored 30 runs off 42 balls. But that could not deter the Tigers from achieving the rare honour of a clean sweep abroad. The day belonged to Tamim Iqbal and wicketkeeper batsman Nurul Hasan.

Skipper Tamim hit 97-ball 112 with the help of eight 4’s and three 6’s. This was his first international ton as the captain of the team while 14th overall.

When Tamim returned to pavilion as third wicket being caught behind at the ball of Luke Jongwe in the first ball of 35th over and Mahmudullah scored a duck in the first ball of his 200th ODI match, Bangladesh innings could easily have gone awry as 95 more runs were needed from the remaining overs. But it was the day for Nurul Hasan, who was playing his first match in the series.

With Mohammad Mithun, Nurul Hasan formed a much-needed partnership of 64 runs to ward off any tickling. After the departure of Mohammad Mithun (30 off 57), who was never looking comfortable at the crease, Nurul secured the victory with another young gun Afif Hossain (26 off 17).

For the hosts, Donald Tiripano and Wessley Madhevere picked up two wickets each while Luke Jongwe took one.

In the process, the Tigers have secured 30 very important points as the three matches were part of the World Cup Super League, a feeder tournament that determines which seven teams, along with hosts India, earn direct qualification to the 2023 World Cup.

Earlier, Tiger captain Tamim won the toss and invited Zimbabwe to bat first in third ODI. On the back of three half centuries of Regis Chakabva, Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl, the hosts scored a formidable 298 runs losing all their wickets.

Opener Chakabva (84 off 91) anchored the innings while Sikandar Raza (57 off 54) and Ryan Burl (59 off 43) reconstructed and gave the late impetus in the innings to set the stiff target for the visitors, who were looking for a clean sweep after winning the first two games.

Bangladesh’s Saifuddin bore the brunt of the Zimbabwe attack. He gave away 87 runs in his eight overs. Zimbabwe could have scored more if he could not have stopped the onslaught picking up three wickets in his last over, which was the 49th over of Zimbabwe innings.

Mustafizur took the last wicket in the third ball of the 50th over and thus restricted Zimbabwe from crossing the 300-run mark. He took three wickets as well in his first match of the series.

Mahmudullah took two wickets while Shakib Al Hasan and Taskin Ahmed shared the remaining two wickets.

Tamim Iqbal was adjudged the player of the match for his knock. He said, “Happy that I contributed for the team. I thought it was a very good wicket, they batted exceptionally well. They could have 25-30 runs more but we bowled well in the last two-three overs. It was a good challenge for the batting unit and we responded well.”

Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan won the player of the series award. He said, “(It) feels good to contribute for the team. Winning 3-0 against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe is not easy. The pitch was really good today, and I feel I missed out.”

He also warned the team about its next assignment. “In T20Is, we have to be at our best as the game changes in the matter of an over. We will have to take it one game at a time.”

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor reiterated what Tamim said. “(We were) 15-20 runs short. They paced the innings beautifully.”

Praising the Tiger skipper, he said, “Tamim showed his class today.”

Taylor lauded his teammates as well. “We can take some positives out of it though. Regis has really found another gear, I am really pleased for him. Raza and Burl performed well after coming from injuries. Muzarabani is our strike bowler, Tiripano had found some rhythm and some reverse swing, so I stuck with him but they saw him off.”