1st PRAN RFL T20 Triangular Series: Zimbabwe 154 for 6 (Masakadza 62) beat Bangladesh 143 for 5 (Tamim 38, Mpofu 2-20) by 11 runs

Zimbabwe will be well satisfied with their performance after they beat Bangladesh by 11 runs in the opening unofficial Pran RFL T20 triangular series at Harare sports club on Sunday, June 17th. Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.

Hamilton Masakadza continued where he left off in the warm up match when he hammered 62 off just 35 balls which included four fours and five sixes in an innings of brute strength and pure timing.

Masakadza dominated an opening stand of 47 with Vusi Sibanda who never looked comfortable before being taken out for seven off 15 balls. Brendan Taylor and Masakadza than added 44 for the second wicket before Masakadza was run out thanks to some sharp fielding by Mahmudullah at point. The innings then took a further dip when Craig Ervine was run out with out scoring, but Brendan Taylor who made a scratchy 38 off 41 balls and Stuart Matsikenyeri with 18 insured that the home side finished on 154 for the loss of six wickets from their 20 overs. Bangladesh got off to a solid start as openers Tamim Iqbal and Ashraful put on 61 for the first wicket before Prosper Utseya had Ashraful well stumped by Brendan Taylor for 22.


Iqbal looked as dangerous as ever but when he top edged an attempted cut down to Kyle Jarvis who took a brilliant diving catch, the Tigers innings started to lose momentum, and even though Rhaman and Nasir Hossain chipped in with 22 and 29 respectively, a wonderful second last over by Richard Muzhange left Bangladesh with the daunting task of having to score 19 runs from the final over. Kyle Jarvis kept his nerve and Bangladesh only managed seven runs off the final over.
Chris Mpofu after an indifferent first over ended up with figures of 2-21 from his four overs which made him the pick of the bowlers while Kyle Jarvis (1-32) Muzhange (1-32) and Prosper Utseya(1-18) added their names to the wicket column as Bangladesh finished on 143-5 from their 20 overs.

The next game will be on Tuesday the 19th of June when Bangladesh take on South Africa.

Dean du Plessis