Zimbabwe v Bangladesh: 4th ODI

With the series win already out of the question, the 4th ODI was a matter of pride for Zimbabwe - especially after having handed the 3rd match on a platter to Bangladesh and lost the first primarily through an apparent lack of interest in chasing Bangladesh's total. Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field - which at least removed the uncertainties of a runchase from the worries of Zimbabwe's batsmen. Early wickets, in the forms of Duffin and Sibanda, left Zim wobbling as ever on 22/2, but Chibhabha and Williams settled into the crease well and began the job of building a respectable total. Both reached their half-centuries before falling, although at a slower-than-ideal rate which left a little work for those who came after them to do. Elton Chigumbura was the only other batsman to really make an impression, with a quick and useful 77 not-out, but as ever the lower order wasn't much use, contributing only two runouts and nothing in double-figures. Zimbabwe finished with a reasonable 244/8 from their 50 overs, a target Bangaldesh would have been happy enough to try and chase.

When Shahriar Nafees fell in the 2nd over for a duck, though, home fans would have begun to hope for a series-levelling win, and when Mushfiqur Rahim, Saqibul Hasan and Tushar Imran fell in the space of 7 runs mid-innings, things were looking up. Aftab Ahmed's 92 (from 81 balls) earlier in the Bangladesh innings had left Zimbabwe really needing to bowl the Tigers out to be sure of victory, though - and that, they just failed to do. Bangladesh passed the target score in the 48th over, with just one wicket to spare - and that was the end of that.

There wasn't a game in this series that Zimbabwe couldn't have won, which in one way is a hopefull sign and in another a damning indication (more on that later). They didn't take their chances, though, and the result is a 3-1 away win from Bangladesh and time for Zimbabwe to rue their wasted opportunities. Check below the cut for the scorecard.
Zimbabwe 244/8 (50 overs; Chibhabha 54, Williams 51, Mortaza 3/52), Bangladesh 246/9 (47.2 overs; Aftab Ahmed 92, Mpofu 3/52). Bangladesh win by 1 wicket, win series 3-1.

Zimbabwe innings
T Duffin 	lbw b Mashrafe Mortaza 			12
V Sibanda 	b Mashrafe Mortaza 			5
CJ Chibhabha 	c Mashrafe Mortaza b Abdur Razzak 	54
SC Williams 	c & b Saqibul Hasan 			51
F Kasteni 	b Shahadat Hossain 			9
E Chigumbura 	not out 				77
BRM Taylor 	b Mashrafe Mortaza 			10
P Utseya 	run out 				9
AJ Ireland 	run out 				8
CB Mpofu 	not out 				0
			Extras 	(b 1, w 4, nb 4) 	9 					
			Total 	(8 wickets; 50 overs) 	244 					

Did not bat: EC Rainsford

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Duffin, 2.3 ov), 2-22 (Sibanda, 4.2 ov), 
3-123 (Williams, 28.6 ov), 4-127 (Chibhabha, 31.1 ov), 
5-144 (Kasteni, 33.5 ov), 6-170 (Taylor, 40.5 ov), 
7-191 (Utseya, 44.3 ov), 8-230 (Ireland, 49.1 ov)

Bowling 		O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
Mashrafe Mortaza 	10 	0 	52 	3 	5.20 	(1nb)
Tapash Baisya 		9 	0 	47 	0 	5.22 	
Shahadat Hossain 	8 	0 	46 	1 	5.75 	(3nb, 2w)
Abdur Razzak 		10 	0 	36 	1 	3.60 	(2w)
Tushar Imran 		3 	0 	20 	0 	6.66 	
Saqibul Hasan		10 	0 	42 	1 	4.20 	


Bangladesh innings
Tamim Iqbal 		c Sibanda b Rainsford 		30
Shahriar Nafees 	c Taylor b Ireland 		0
Mushfiqur Rahim 	st Taylor b Utseya 		57
Aftab Ahmed 		lbw b Ireland 			92
Saqibul Hasan 		c & b Mpofu 			25
Habibul Bashar 		run out 			14
Tushar Imran 		lbw b Mpofu 			0
Mashrafe Mortaza 	c Taylor b Rainsford		11
Tapash Baisya 		c Duffin b Mpofu 		0
Abdur Razzak 		not out 			4
Shahadat Hossain 	not out 			0
		 Extras (lb 1, w 10, nb 2) 		13 					
		 Total 	(9 wickets; 47.2 overs) 	246 					

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Shahriar Nafees, 1.3 ov), 2-40 (Tamim Iqbal, 8.1 ov), 
3-172 (Aftab Ahmed, 29.2 ov), 4-209 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 39.2 ov), 
5-216 (Saqibul Hasan, 40.4 ov), 6-216 (Tushar Imran, 40.5 ov), 
7-238 (Mashrafe Mortaza, 43.5 ov), 8-242 (Habibul Bashar, 45.2 ov), 
9-242 (Tapash Baisya, 45.6 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
EC Rainsford 	10 	2 	41 	2 	4.10 	(2nb, 2w)
AJ Ireland 	10 	1 	51 	2 	5.10 	(3w)
CB Mpofu 	10 	1 	52 	3 	5.20 	(3w)
P Utseya 	10 	0 	50 	1 	5.00 	
SC Williams 	4 	0 	22 	0 	5.50 	
CJ Chibhabha 	3.2 	0 	29 	0 	8.70 	(2w)