Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 87 runs in the first match of the 5-match ODI series at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Friday night. Batting first earlier on the day, Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan smashed a century to set a 282-run target for Zimbabwe to win at the Stadium, this afternoon. Bangladesh scored 281 runs with loss of five wickets- Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mahmudullah, Mominul and Shakib. Winning toss, the Zimbabwe sent Bangladesh for batting. Allrounder Sabbir Rahman was given an ODI debut, the 113th Bangladeshi to play this format. Left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny was also recalled to the side after missing the West Indies tour. Bangladesh lost their last five ODIs, going back to their series against India and West Indies back in August. Zimbabwe won just one out of their last five-the famous victory against Australia in the tri-series in Harare. But since then, Bangladesh whitewashed Zimbabwe 3-0 in the Test series, and the visitors` confidence has taken a hit. Bangladesh is currently ninth in the ODI rankings, 11 points ahead of Zimbabwe, and the only scenario in which the visitors can overtake them is if they complete an unlikely 5-0 whitewash in the series.
