Hamilton Masakadza’s all-round performance helped Zimbabwe to start their preparation for the ICC World Twenty20 on the right note as they defeated Bangladesh A team by 11 runs in a practice match at Fatullah on Saturday. Zimbabwe made 171-5 on the back of Masakadza’s half-century before his two-wicket haul stalled the hosts who eventually ended on 160-7.The opening batsman survived the initial storm of promising pace bowler Taskin Ahmed (2-24), who looked lively after returning from injury. Masakadza made the bowlers pay for bowling anything short and wide.
Mahmudullah grabbed 3-31 to help his cause after being widely criticised for his recent form but it was not good enough to restrict the visitors to 150. Some quickfire knocks from skipper Brendan Taylor (42) and Sikander Raza (32) ably supported Masakadza and took the visitors to a competitive score.
Arafat Sunny bowled four tight overs and conceded 28 runs giving the selectors a timely reminder.
‘We lost the match as we could not hold our nerve in the end,’ selector Minhazul Abedin told New Age on Sunday.
‘We gave nearly 50 runs in the last four overs while we could not take the challenge when the required run-rate passed over nine runs,’ he added.
The Bangladesh A side featured five players from the T20 squad that included Nasir Hossain, Farhad Reza, Mahmudullah, Shamsur Rahman and Sabbir Rahman.
In reply, opening pace bowler Tendai Chatara (2-20) made life difficult for the home team with his pace and movement and took two wickets early on.
Soumya Sarker (44) and Sabbir (39) resurrected the innings but failed to keep the scoreboard ticking as required.
Nasir, who hogged the limelight for being on the wrong end in the just concluded Asia Cup, could not silence his critics by putting on a match-winning effort. He made 26 from 21 balls which included two missed stumping chances.
National opener Shamsur made only six while his T20 squad partner Farhad was out for a first-ball duck.
Scores
Zimbabwe 171-5 in 20 overs (Masakadza 66, Taylor 42, Sikander 32, Mahmudullah 3-31, Taskin 2-24) v Bangladesh A 160-7 in 20 overs (Soumya 44, Sabbir 39, Nasir 26, Masakadza 2-13)
-With New Age input
