All-round Bangladesh level series in Bulawayo

Bangladesh clinched a resounding 34-run win in the second T20I against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on Friday to level the three-match series 1-1. After being bowled out for just 138 and falling 32 runs short in the first encounter, Bangladesh responded with a strong batting performance and set Zimbabwe a 187-run target. In pursuit, the hosts slipped early before being bowled out for 152.

After opting to bat, Saif Hassan set the tone early for Bangladesh with two boundaries in the opening over. While Richard Ngarava bowled a tight spell in the Powerplay, conceding just seven runs off his two overs, the other Zimbabwean bowlers weren't as successful in containing the scoring. This was partly down to Zimbabwe's lapses in the field, with Saif being put down twice inside just the first five overs.

After posting 54/0 in the Powerplay, Bangladesh's openers carried on batting with fluency. Tanzid Hasan Tamim reached his fifty in the 12th over, while his partner Saif continued to enjoy tremendous luck, having been dropped five times before reaching his fifty in the 14th. Zimbabwe only managed to break the century opening stand in the 15th over when Sikandar Raza bowled Saif.

The wicket triggered a collapse as Bangladesh lost four further wickets in the next two overs to go from 120/0 to 137/4. Zimbabwe weren't able to capitalize on the momentum, however, as Yasir Ali struck three crucial boundaries before Mohammad Saifuddin struck Evans for four sixes in the final over. Zimbabwe's lapses in the field continued too with Saifuddin being dropped off the final delivery, taking the total tally of drops to seven.

Zimbabwe's response appeared to begin positively with Brian Bennett striking Mahedi Hasan for two fours and a six in the first over. However, it withered away quickly with Tadiwanashe Marumani falling later in the same over while Bennett lost his stumps to Nahid Rana's pace in the next. Dion Myers failed to make an impact and while Sikandar Raza attempted to infuse momentum with a 12-ball 28, Zimbabwe found themselves in trouble at 65/4 when he fell in the seventh over.

Milton Shumba, who dropped four catches earlier, wasn't able to redeem himself with the bat and became Rishad Hossain's second victim after making a 20-ball 19. The hosts were never really able to fight their way back into the contest thereafter. Ryan Burl's 29 (19) and Evans' 25 (14) were the only other notable contributions but neither were able to get Zimbabwe anywhere close. They were eventually bowled out for 152 in the 20th over, 34 runs short of the target. Rishad Hossain emerged as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-26.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 186/5 in 20 overs (Tanzid Hasan 58, Saif Hasan 55; Richard Ngarava 2-23) beat Zimbabwe 152 all-out in 19.2 overs (Ryan Burl 29; Rishad Hossain 4-26, Mahedi Hasan 3-24) by 34 runs.