Mahmudullah scored not out 82 and Mushfiqur Rahim 77 runs to guide Bangladesh to post 256/8 in 50 overs against Zimbabwe in the fourth match of the five-match Bashundhara Cement ODI series at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Friday. In the day’s match, Bangladesh batted first for the fourth time in four ODI’s after winning the toss and faced early jolt losing four top order batsmen — Anamul Haque (5), Tamim Iqbal (16), Imrul Kayes (5) and Shakib Al Hasan (1) — for 32 runs in 12.2 overs. Bangladesh miserably lost the wickets of Tamim, Imrul and Shakib just for one run (31-32) off 8.2 overs. However, before the drinks break, Bangladesh scored 140 runs for 4 in 33 overs with Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah batting on 66 and 37 runs respectively. In the fifth wicket stand, Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim pairing with number four Mahmudullah contributed 134 runs in 25.1 overs to carry the total to 166 for 5 in 37.3 overs, before Mushfiqur was caught by Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura off Tafadzwa Kamungozi. Mahmudullah, who was the day’s successful Bangladesh batter, made his 10th ODI half-century scoring team highest, unbeaten 82 runs off 112 balls with six fours. Mushfiqur made his 18th ODI half-century in the match scoring 77 runs off 78 balls with seven fours. After the departure of Mushfiqur, number seven Sabbir Rahman (4) and number eight Abul Hasan (1), who returned to international cricket for the first time since March 2013 after being sidelined with a stress fracture on his back, failed to stand with Mahmudullah. ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, who made the only sixer for Bangladesh in the match, successfully paired with Mahmudullah in the eight wicket stand that contributed 65 runs in 8 overs, before being caught by wicketkeeper Peter Moor off Neville Madziva at 242 for 8 in 48.2 overs. Mashrafe smashed 39 runs off 25 balls with four fours and two sixes. Rubel Hossain remained unbeaten on 7 runs while ODI debut leg spinner Jubair Hossain, named in place of Arafat Sunny, also remained at the crease till the end.
