Sarkar, Liton fifties fire Bangladesh to easy win

Dhaka (Agencies): Bangladesh heaped more misery on Zimbabwe, hammering them by 48 runs in the first T20I following the 3-0 whitewash in the ODI series. Put in to bat in Dhaka, the opening pair of Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das put on a 92-run stand to set the platform for a late Soumya Sarkar onslaught which fired them to a score of 200.

Zimbabwe, in response, lost Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine early, and Sean Williams didn’t last long either, turning the run-chase into one of those tedious cricketing formalities.

The Liton-Tamim show

Coming off a record-breaking stand in the final ODI, the duo carried on from where they had left and immediately looked in good touch – especially Liton, who was the aggressive one in this partnership. He announced his intentions in the first over itself, slog-sweeping Sikandar Raza for a six and following it up with a boundary.

Zimbabwe didn’t help their own cause, showing little improvement in the basics that captain Sean Williams was hopeful for. Both Carl Mumba and Donald Tiripano, who bowled in the powerplay, offered way too many freebies in the form of half-vollies, full tosses and deliveries which strayed in on leg-stump. And with the kind of form, Liton was in, he didn’t miss out on much.

Tamim, relatively, was a bit more sketchy, although he too used his feet on occasion to prevent the momentum from waning. As such, Bangladesh raced to 59/0 in the powerplay.

Sarkar takes over

The end of the fielding restrictions brought some respite for Zimbabwe, who clawed their way back in the next seven-odd overs, while also removing both the openers. Off-spinner Wesley Madhevere, on T20I debut, got rid of Tamim whose lofted shot was miscued having not got to the pitch of the delivery. Madhevere was made to go through an agonising wait for his maiden T20I wicket to be confirmed, but a close no-ball call went in his favour to bring him and Zimbabwe some relief.

Raza then got some vengeance for the first over, trapping Liton LBW soon after his fifty. giving Zimbabwe real hope of restricting Bangladesh to a score that would’ve kept the game alive. But Soumya Sarkar, who had come in at No.3, was having none of that. After Mushfiqur Rahim – back in the team after missing the Pakistan tour – provided the trigger in the 16th over that went for 22, Sarkar took over.

The southpaw showed his power-hitting ability as he took Christopher Mpofu apart at the death, hitting three of his five sixes in the final over of the innings. His blistering knock of 62* off 32 balls was at the forefront for Bangladesh who plundered 75 off the final five overs to finish with 200.

Zimbabwe never in it

Zimbabwe were never in the game once they’d let things slip so badly. Even the little scope of a miracle was taken out early after Brendon Taylor and Craig Ervine were dismissed in the powerplay. Taylor was cramped for room by Shafiul Islam who followed him down leg and got him to flick one uppishly to midwicket. As for Ervine, he played right across a straight one from Mustafizur Rahman and was quite adjacent in front of the stumps.

Captain Sean Williams got a couple of sixes away, before becoming the second half of Aminul Islam’s twin dismissals which left Zimbabwe in tatters on 69/5.

There were a few eye-catching shots towards the end from the lower-order, but the mind was somewhere else for those watching.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 200/3 in 20 overs (Soumya Sarkar 62, Liton Das 59; Wesley Madhevere 1/15 in two overs) beat Zimbabwe 152 in 19 overs (Mustafizur Rahman 3/32, Aminul Islam 3/34) by 48 runs.