Sports Reporter :Bangladesh composed an emphatic 68-run victory over the touring Zimbabwe in the second ODI at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Sunday and took 2-0 lead in the 5-match ODI series.Bangladesh recorded a massive 87-run victory over Zimbabwe in the first ODI at the same venue on November 21.Winning the toss, team Captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza decided to bat first and his team piled up a challenging 251 for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 50 overs and then dismissed their African counterpart for 183 off 44.5 overs.Bangladesh openers Anamul Haque and Tamim Iqbal made a solid start and put on together 158 runs before Tamim Iqbal was unfortunately run out by Elton Chigumbura.After dismissal of Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh batsmen failed to build any notable partnership. Anamul Haque was his team’s highest scorer with 80. He hit five fours and a sixer in his 110-ball innings before he was caught at the point by Vusi Sibanda off Tinashe Panyangara when Bangladesh’s score was 173 for the loss of three wickets. It was Anamul’s 2nd ODI half century. Anamul reached his 50-run landmark using 83 deliveries.Tamim Iqbal notched up a superb 76. He struck seven fours and a sixer in his 98-ball knock. Tamim fulfilled his 27th ODI half century capitalizing 72 balls.Ace left-hander Shakib Al Hasan was bowled out by Vusi Sibanda before he opened his account.Mominul Haque remained unbeaten with 33. His quick-fire 23-ball innings was with three fours.Mushfiqur Rahim was the other notable batsman for Bangladesh. He scored 27 from 29 balls before he was trapped leg before wicket by Tafadzwa Kamungozi when the team’s total was 204 for the loss of six wickets.Tafadzwa Kamungozi and Tinashe Panyangara bagged a pair of wickets each for 38 and 51 runs respectively.Besides, Vusi Sibanda and Tendai Chatara got one wicket each.Later, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza gave his team early lead as opener Hamilton Masakadza was cleanly bowled out by the country’s best pacer for naught.Then Mashrafe Bin Mortaza dismissed Vusi Sibanda for 21 when the tourists score was 37 for the loss of two wickets.Sikandar Raza, the other opener of Zimbabwe was caught at the short cover by Mahmudullah Riyad off Mashrafe Bin Mortaza when Zimbabwe’s total was 40 for the loss of three wickets.Brendan Taylor was caught at the slip by Mahmudullah Riyad off Arafat Sunny when the African’s score was 50 for the loss of four wickets.After removal of Taylor, Solomon Mire and Regis Chakabva added 65 runs for the fifth wicket partnership before Regis Chakabva was caught at the mid-off by Mashrafe Bin Mortaza off Al-Amin Hossain when the visitors total was 115 for the loss of six wickets.Solomon Mire hit a fine 50 from 79 balls before he was caught at the point by Arafat Sunny off Shakib Al Hasan when Zimbabwe’s score was 140 for the loss of six wickets.Elton Chigumbura and Regis Chakabva added 38 and 32 runs respectively to the tourists total.Arafat Sunny played the key role to mop up the tail-enders.Arafat Sunny captured four wickets at the cost of 29 runs while Mashrafe Bin Mortaza claimed three wickets in the space of 34 runs.Shakib Al Hasan and Al-Amin Hossain took one wicket apiece.Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was adjudged the Man of the Match.
