Bangladesh Strike Back in 2nd ODI

There was no change in Zimbabwe's tactics for the 2nd ODI against Bangladesh, as Prosper Utseya again won the toss & elected to field, before watching Zimbabwe's bowlers cause some serious problems for the visitors. Come the second half of the innings, though, Bangladesh finally found some backbone, and while the scoring rate was kept under control for the most part, the lower order were much hard to get rid of, and a torrent of runs in the closing overs saw Zimbabwe needing 239 to win, at a required rate of 4.78. Reza (50), Ahmed (40) and Mashud (50*) did the damage for the Bangladeshis, while Mawhire (3/29) and Mupariwa (2/44) were the pick of Zim's bowling attack. Check below the cut for the highlights.

Unfortunately, rather than build on yesterday's success, Zimbabwe's innings was more like a return to the style of play seen in the West Indies, as runs came slowly while the top order once again did a disappearing act. With the Matsikenyeri / Chigumbura double act failing to fire this time (although Matsikenyeri was the only Zimbabwe batsman to really make an effort, with 46 off 56 balls), Zim finally slid to 175 all out in the 45th over.

Quote of the day: "For the second day running, Prosper Utseya won the toss, inserted Bangladesh, and watched gleefully as his medium pacers wreaked havoc. Or, from a Bangladeshi perspective, Habibul Bashar lost the toss again, was forced to expose his frail top order, and watched them self-destruct." - CricInfo's Jamie Alter. Unfortunately, come the Zimbabwe innings, it was Utseya's turn to... expose his frail top order, and watch them self-destruct. Oh, the irony.

Bangladesh 237/8 (50 overs: Farhad Reza 50, Khaled Mashud 50*; Blessing Mawhire 3/29, Tawanda Mupariwa 2/44)
Zimbabwe 175 (44.4 overs: Stuart Matiskenyeri 46, Vusi Sibanda 33; Shahadat Hossain 3/41, Mohammed Rafique 2/24)
Bangladesh win by 63 runs, series tied 1-1.

Zimbabwe win toss & elect to field.

Bangladesh Innings
17/1 5.1 overs Javed Omar c Utseya b Mupariwa 10
An early breakthrough for Zim - inside edge goes to mid-off & Utseya's waiting hands. In comes Aftab Ahmed.

34/2 8.4 overs Shahriar Nafees c Chibhabha b Rainsford 7
Another edge, this time to mid-on & Chibhabha, brings Mohammed Ashraful to the centre.

39/2 10.0 overs Another half-decent start by Zimbabwe this morning, but Bangladesh have shown signs of being able to score more freely, so Zim will need to make sure they don't let the score get beyond them...

55/2 11.0 overs ...and no sooner do I say that than Aftab takes Rainsford to the cleaners, hitting 20 (2x6 and 2x4) off the over. Ouch.

68/3 14.2 overs Aftab Ahmed c Masakadza b Mahwire 40
...and Bangladesh's dangerman takes a walk back to the clubhouse after an attempted pull shot ends up being edged to Masakadza at mid-on. Zimbabwe will be very glad to see the back of him. Habibul Bashar is next in.

73/4 16.1 overs Mohammad Ashraful c Taylor b Mahwire 4
Edged behind to Taylor - Zimbabwe are making good progress now, Mawhire looks particularly dangerous this morning. Farhad Reza is next in, for his international debut.

76/5 19.2 overs Habibul Bashar c Matsikenyeri b Rinke 5
The Bangladeshi captain departs without having made much of an impression after driving to gully (Matsikenyeri almost dropped it, but took it on the second attempt), and Zimbabwe are now definitely on top. Amazing what a win can do for the self-confidence. :) Next up is Khaled Mashud.

76/5 20.0 overs Zim have been picking up regular wickets, with Bangladesh's run rate dropping nicely as a result. Aftab Ahmed was the only batsman to really take the game to Zimbabwe's bowlers, and with him gone it's looking much more comfortable for the home team, who can hopefully keep up the good work.

126/5 29.5 overs 50-partnership for Reza and Mashud - over 10 overs now since the last wicket fell, although Zim are still managing to keep Bangladesh's scoring under control.

147/6 32.6 overs Farhad Reza b Rainsford 50
Rainsford's return pays dividends, as Reza plays and misses a yorker and pays the price. Good showing for the Bangladeshi debutant, though, even if Zimbabwe probably didn't appreciate his efforts. Mohammed Rafique is next in.

169/6 40.0 overs Mashud and Rafique are proving resilient, although they're not making a huge amount of headway with the score. They'll need to push on at this point if Bangladesh want to set a competitive total.

195/7 44.3 overs Mohammad Rafique c Rainsford b Mahwire 32
Just as Bangladesh are beginning to pick up speed, Rafique pulls to long-off and is caught. In comes Mashrafe Mortaza.

213/8 47.2 overs Mashrafe Mortaza c Sibanda b Mupariwa 14
Tries to go over long-off but finds Vusi Sibanda instead - easy catch, brings Abdur Razzak to the crease.

237/8 50.0 overs And that's that - a slightly lower total for Zim to chase than yesterday, which means it should be easily doable. Target is 238, at a run rate of 4.78.

Technical problems in Harare, so no sites are carrying ball-by-ball coverage of Zimbabwe's innings. Sorry...