Tanjid’s half-century and dramatic final over help Bangladesh clinch series against Zimbabwe

Sports Desk
Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the third and final T20I of the series in Bulawayo to clinch the series 2-1. The Tigers made a stunning comeback after losing the first match, riding on opener Tanjid Tamim’s unbeaten half-century.

Chasing a moderate target of 144, Bangladesh faced a setback early on. Opener Saif Hasan was dismissed for just 4 runs in the first over. However, Tanjid Tamim and Parvez Emon took charge of the team for the second wicket. They put on a cautious partnership of 55 runs. The partnership was broken when Parvez Emon was dismissed for 24 runs off 22 balls.

After Emon’s departure, Tanjid took control of the match. He put on another fine 63-run stand with captain Towhid Hridoy. Hridoy was dismissed for 24 off 19 balls, but Tanjid held on to score his controlled half-century. He ended up unbeaten on 66 off 58 balls, which included 4 sixes and 1 four.

The match, which was heading towards an easy win, suddenly became quite exciting towards the end. With only 22 runs needed to win in the last 4 overs, Bangladesh came under pressure after losing wickets in quick succession after Hridoy’s dismissal.

The drama reached its peak in the last over, when 5 runs were needed to win. Bangladesh lost 2 wickets in the first 3 balls and the match tilted in Zimbabwe’s favour. Sheikh Mehedi was caught LBW in the fourth ball, but the umpire declared the ball dead. The umpire made this decision after a Zimbabwean fielder moved in front of the batsman before the delivery. After this life-saving gesture, Mehedi made no more mistakes, hitting a four off the next ball to secure Bangladesh’s victory with 2 balls remaining.

Earlier, Zimbabwe, who had opted to bat after losing the toss, scored 143 for 7, relying on Dion Myers’ 73 off 53 balls and opener Brian Bennett’s 47 off 38 balls. Apart from these two, no other batsman for the hosts could touch double figures. Among the bowlers for Bangladesh, Mohammad Saifuddin took 2 wickets for 35 runs. Apart from this, Sheikh Mehedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Abdul Gaffar Saqlain took 1 wicket each.