Series: Bangladesh in Zimbabwe Nov 2021
Venue: Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Format: ODI
Toss: Zimbabwe
Result: Bangladesh by 7 wickets
Nahida’s Five Gives Bangladesh Three
A five wicket haul to Nahida Akter has helped Bangladesh take a 3-0 clean sweep of the series against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
Zimbabwe’s Mary-Anne Musonda won the toss and chose to bat. It was the third time in the series where the home team batted first. It was also the third time a batting collapse ensued.
The innings got off to a bright start with Modester Mupachikwa (9) and Sharne Mayers (30) taking 10 runs from the first over and from there settling into the innings. However on 23 a running mishap saw Mupachikwa runout by Nahida.
The innings suffered a hefty blow from the moment Nahida Akter (5-21) took her first wicket. The left-arm slow bowler ran through the Zimbabwe batting and the only resistance to be found was from the opener Mayers as the team folded for just 72. They had lost 10 wickets for 49 runs. Even the return of star allrounder Josephine Nkomo (0) made little difference.
Three of Akter’s wickets were LBW, the other two bowled. The other wickets to fall were also LBW and bowled. The Zimbabwe batters will be keen to practice their defensive shots. The other two wicket takers Rumana Ahmed (2-7) and the left arm seamer, Fariha Trisna (2-17) playing in her debut.
The target of 72 was too little to defend and apart from a couple of minor hiccups was chased down with ease, with opening batter Murshida Khatun remaining 39 not out at the end, giving her 97 runs for the series, the most by any player.
The star of the show today, and indeed the entire series was Nahida Akter and she was rightly awarded both Player of the Match and Player of the series.
Bangladesh will now sharpen their saw for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers while Zimbabwe will have some serious questions to answer while they too prepare for the same tournament.
Scores:
Zimbabwe 72 (Sharne Mayers 39, Nahida Akter 5-21, Rumana Ahmed 2-7, Fariha Trisna 2-17) 27.2overs
Bangladesh 74/3 (Murshida Khatun 39*, Esther Mbofana 1-12) 18.2 overs
Player of the Match: Nahida Akter
Player of the Series: Nahida Akter