Five Lives for Saif as Sloppy Chevrons Pay Heavy Price in Series Leveller
ZIMBABWE paid dearly for a disastrous display in the field as Bangladesh levelled the three match Twenty20 International series with a 34 run victory at Queens Sports Club, where opener Saif Hassan was handed five reprieves before making the hosts suffer.
The Chevrons endured one of their poorest fielding performances in recent memory, repeatedly letting Bangladesh off the hook after electing to chase. Saif was the biggest beneficiary, surviving five dropped catches before finally falling for a match defining 55 from 45 deliveries.
Milton Shumba was first to spill the opener, putting down a straightforward chance at mid off when Saif had made just eight in the third over. One over later, Shumba missed another opportunity with Saif on 17.
Zimbabwe’s misery continued as Brad Evans dropped Saif on 19 at deep square leg, allowing Bangladesh’s openers to race through the Powerplay without losing a wicket.
The chances kept coming, but so did the mistakes. Shumba failed to hold another difficult opportunity with Saif on 37 before Wessly Myers also grassed a chance when the opener had reached 46.
By the time Sikandar Raza finally bowled Saif for 55, the damage had already been done. Together with Tanzid Hasan, who struck his 12th T20I half century with a fluent 58 from 44 balls, the pair had piled on 120 for the opening wicket to put Bangladesh firmly in control.
Richard Ngarava briefly revived Zimbabwe’s hopes with a superb over that removed Tanzid and the Bangladesh captain in successive deliveries, triggering a middle order collapse that threatened to derail the innings.
Zimbabwe’s bowlers then fought back admirably after Bangladesh looked set to post well beyond 200. However, Mahedi Hasan launched a brutal late assault, smashing 31 from just 10 balls, including four consecutive sixes, while Yasir Ali finished unbeaten on 22 as the visitors closed strongly.
Ngarava and Raza stood out with disciplined spells, but the overall bowling effort was undermined by a catalogue of missed opportunities in the field.
With the series now locked at 1-1, Zimbabwe will know that another fielding display of this standard could prove decisive when the teams meet again in the winner takes all decider at Queens Sports Club.
