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Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field in the 3rd ODI in Bogra on Tuesday, and for the first time in the series the bowlers turned up and put in a decent performance, bowling Bangladesh out for 220 with 4 balls remaining in their allotted overs. After the previous games, where the bowling could hardly be called an attack, this was a pleasant change. While a number of the Bangladesh batsmen passed 30 (Shahriar Nafees, Mehrab Hossain jr and Mohammad Ashraul), none of them were able to settle to build larger scores, and with Zim taking wickets are regular intervals during the innings the match was set to actually be a contest at the halfway mark. Keith Dabengwa was particularly impressive - 3/19 from his 3 overs - while Utseya (1/21 a 2.10/over) and Williams (0/35 at 3.50/over) helped keep the scoring rate down to what seemed rate Zimbabwe could chase.

Zim's opening batsmen look eager to chase it too - for the first few overs, anyway, but the removal of Taylor (17/1, 4th over) brought down the shutters on the scoring. A mini-collapse saw the end of Matsikenyeri, Chibhabha and Masakadza in the space of 8 runs, before Chigumbura and Williams finally put up a fight with a 5th-wicket stand of 75. Williams' score of 68 was a new personal best in ODIs for him, and another indication that he'll be a player to watch, but the scoring was done too slowly to give Zimbabwe any prospect of reaching the required total. Williams eventually departed with the score on 182/7, which triggered another collapse in the lower order to see ZImbabwe bowled out for 194.
Bangladesh 220 (49.2 overs; Mehrab Hossain jnr 38, Mpofu 4/42), Zimbabwe 194 (49 overs; Williams 68, Abdur Razzak 5/33). Bangladesh win by 26 runs, win series 3-0 with 2 to play.

As usual, there were positives in Zimbabwe's performance, but also as usual, a significant number of players simply didn't perform. The series loss adds to the pressure on Zimbabwe, in particular on coach Kevin Curran - CricInfo reports that there are mutterings within ZC about a purge of the coaching staff and underperforming players:

Pressure on the coach Kevin Curran has quickly resurfaced and the board, which previously backed him when he came under siege from former board member Crispen Tsvarayi and the former head of selectors Bruce Makovah, has also become edgy. The humiliating loss to Bangladesh could be the final straw. Curran is not alone, though. Calls to axe under-performing players - a riot act was reportedly read by selectors before the tour - have grown by the day since Zimbabwe lost the first ODI by nine wickets.

Sources have told Cricinfo the board wanted Curran to stay on until the World Cup, but there are now whispers in the corridors of Zimbabwe Cricket power that he is a contributing factor to the team's slide. Many blame the board for the team's continuing plunge, and it is feared that more players may quit the team to run away from taking stick on their own while the Peter Chingoka regime exonerates itself.

Sacrificial lambs probably aren't the answer - there are a number of genuinely talented players in the current side who wold be a loss if they were axed - but something does need to be done. The question is: what?

Check below the cut for the match scorecard.
CricInfo - Pressure grows on Curran

Scorecard

Bangladesh innings
Shahriar Nafees 	c Brent b Chigumbura 		35
Mehrab Hossain jnr 	b Mpofu 			38
Aftab Ahmed 		c Rainsford b Utseya 		16
Saqibul Hasan 		c Williams b Brent 		26
Habibul Bashar 		c Brent b Mpofu 		3
Mohammad Ashraful 	c Chibhabha b Dabengwa 		36
Khaled Mashud 		b Dabengwa 			11
Mohammad Rafique 	c & b Dabengwa	 		3
Mashrafe Mortaza 	not out 			23
Abdur Razzak 		c Taylor b Mpofu 		5
Shahadat Hossain 	c Rainsford b Mpofu 		5
	    Extras 	(b 2, lb 4, w 9, nb 4) 		19 					
	    Total 	(all out; 49.2 overs) 		220 					

Fall of wickets: 1-64 (Shahriar Nafees, 9.4 ov), 
2-85 (Aftab Ahmed, 15.5 ov), 3-113 (Mehrab Hossain, 24.2 ov), 
4-123 (Habibul Bashar, 28.2 ov), 5-138 (Saqibul Hasan, 32.6 ov), 
6-169 (Khaled Mashud, 41.5 ov), 7-179 (Mohammad Rafique, 43.4 ov), 
8-184 (Mohammad Ashraful, 45.1 ov), 9-202 (Abdur Razzak, 47.3 ov), 
10-220 (Shahadat Hossain, 49.2 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
EC Rainsford 	6 	0 	51 	0 	8.50 	(4nb, 2w)
CB Mpofu 	9.2 	0 	42 	4 	4.50 	(4w)
GB Brent 	10 	0 	42 	1 	4.20 	
E Chigumbura 	1 	0 	4 	1 	4.00 	
P Utseya 	10 	1 	21 	1 	2.10 	
SC Williams 	10 	0 	35 	0 	3.50 	
KM Dabengwa 	3 	0 	19 	3 	6.33 	(3w)

							
Zimbabwe innings
S Matsikenyeri 	b Abdur Razzak 				24
BRM Taylor 	b Shahadat Hossain 			1
CJ Chibhabha 	lbw b Abdur Razzak 			10
H Masakadza 	c Saqibul Hasan b Shahadat Hossain 	2
SC Williams 	c sub (Farhad Reza) b Abdur Razzak 	68
E Chigumbura 	c Khaled Mashud b Mashrafe Mortaza 	31
KM Dabengwa 	b Abdur Razzak 				31
GB Brent 	not out 				7
P Utseya 	c Abdur Razzak b Mashrafe Mortaza 	1
CB Mpofu 	b Mashrafe Mortaza 			1
EC Rainsford 	lbw b Abdur Razzak 			1
	    Extras 	(lb 2, w 10, nb 5) 		17 					
	    Total 	(all out; 49 overs) 		194 					

Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Taylor, 3.4 ov), 
2-40 (Matsikenyeri, 9.4 ov), 3-41 (Chibhabha, 9.6 ov), 
4-48 (Masakadza, 14.3 ov), 5-123 (Chigumbura, 36.6 ov), 
6-181 (Dabengwa, 46.1 ov), 7-182 (Williams, 46.3 ov), 
8-185 (Utseya, 47.1 ov), 9-188 (Mpofu, 47.5 ov), 
10-194 (Rainsford, 48.6 ov)

Bowling 		O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
Mashrafe Mortaza 	9 	1 	34 	3 	3.77 	(1nb, 2w)
Shahadat Hossain 	10 	1 	42 	2 	4.20 	(4nb, 4w)
Abdur Razzak		10 	2 	33 	5 	3.30 	(3w)
Mohammad Rafique 	10 	0 	43 	0 	4.30 	(1w)
Saqibul Hasan		10 	0 	40 	0 	4.00