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Shakib Al Hasan celebrates a wicket during the Bangladesh versus Zimbabwe tri-series match in Dhaka, Bangladesh, yesterday

TAMIM Iqbal’s unbeaten 84 and the bowlers played pivotal roles as Bangladesh thumped Zimbabwe by eight wickets in the first match of the tri-series, played in Dhaka yesterday.

While defending a paltry target of 171, Zimbabwe needed early wickets. However, Anamul Haque (19) played a string of shots to keep the scorecard ticking over. He smacked Tendai Chatara for a couple of fours in the second over and then followed it by slog-sweeping Sikandar Raza for a boundary. The opener, though, played one shot too many and slog-swept straight to the fielder in the deep as Raza bagged a scalp.

Shakib Al Hasan (37), who was promoted up the order, joined forces with Tamim as the duo collected runs in a diet of singles and twos. It was only in the 11th over of the innings, Shakib tonked Blessing Muzarabani for three successive fours to propel the run-rate past six runs per over.

The pair went on to share an alliance of 78 before Shakib fell to Raza. Initially, the appeal for leg before wicket was adjudged as not out. But, Zimbabwe took the review and the ball-tracker suggested it would crash into the leg-stump and Shakib had to walk back to the pavilion.

Once Shakib was dismissed, Tamim opened up his shoulders and crunched two consecutive boundaries off Raza to bring the equation down to just 54 runs required. Mushfiqur Rahim then joined in the fun by lofting Raza down the ground for a six. Eventually, they chased down the target in just 28.3 overs.

Earlier, Zimbabwe never really recovered from the double blow they suffered in the first over, which saw both Solomon Mire and Craig Ervine being dismissed.

Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor, the experienced duo, played a few shots before succumbing to Mashrafe Mortaza and Mustafizur Rahman respectively.

With Zimbabwe in trouble at 51 for 4, Raza came to Zimbabwe’s rescue with a gritty half-century. He received good support from Peter Moor (33) as the duo shared a stand of 50 for the fifth wicket. At 131 for 5, Zimbabwe would have hoped to compile a total of around 200.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Raza attempted a risky single and was run out in the 40th over. In the slog overs, Rubel Hossain castled Moor and Chatara with yorkers, with Mustafizur providing the finishing touches by rattling the stumps of Muzarabani. Shakib bagged three scalps for the home side.

Barring a couple of dropped chances, Bangladesh would be pleased with their fine all-round effort. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, would look to improve in all three departments of the game. Most of the batsmen threw away their wickets, while the bowlers couldn’t maintain good discipline and also overstepped on quite a few occasions.

Brief scores: Zimbabwe 170 in 49 overs (Sikandar Raza 52; Shakib Al Hasan 3-43) lost to Bangladesh 171/2 in 28.3 overs (Tamim Iqbal 84*, Shakib Al Hasan 37; Sikandar Raza 2-53) by eight wickets – Cricbuzz