In the second T20I of the three-match series, Sikandar Raza's three-wicket haul (3/56) and magnificent century (117 not out off 127) enabled Zimbabwe defeat Bangladesh by five wickets and secure an unbeatable 2-0 series lead.
Zimbabwe won the series against Bangladesh for the first time since 2013. They had not defeated Bangladesh in an ODI in the nine years between, losing 19 straight games.
Additionally, it was Zimbabwe's first victory in a bilateral ODI series since 2019 (when they defeated UAE), and their first against a team from a full member nation since the illustrious victory over Sri Lanka in 2017.
Bangladesh had only lost two wickets when putting up a total of 300 or more in the previous game, but although trying to attack a little bit more this time, they were unable to reach that total. Tamim Iqbal's half-century and Mahmudullah's unbeaten 80 off 84 balls helped Bangladesh post 290/9 in 50 overs as they were batting first.
Mahmudullah had a score of 27 off 50 balls as Bangladesh were 206/4 at the end of 40 overs. However, Mahmudullah scored 53 runs off his next 34 balls to help Bangladesh achieve a sizable total.
To deny Mahmudullah stable support at the other end, Raza struck three times for Zimbabwe in the final overs, dismissing Afif Hossain (who scored a run-a-ball 41), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Taskin Ahmed. Additionally, the loss of wickets toward the end of the innings prevented what seemed to be a total that would surpass 300. Raza's final bowling average was 10-0-56-3.
However, Raza's bowling total was eclipsed by his yet another outstanding batting performance as Zimbabwe once again struggled to get going in the run chase.
After Brendan Taylor, the 36-year-old Raza became the first Zimbabwean player to score back-to-back ODI hundreds. The middle-order batsman had previously scored an unbeaten 135 runs to lead Zimbabwe past the objective, and he did so once more when he stood unbeaten on 117 runs as Zimbabwe won the series by chasing the total in 47.3 overs.
On Sunday, he was joined by Regis Chakabva, who scored his first ODI century (102) as the pair put up a double century stand to help Zimbabwe recover from 49/4. In ODIs in 2022, Raza scored 472 runs at an average of 78.66 and a strike rate of above 90. It is noteworthy that no other Zimbabwean batsman has scored more than 250 runs in ODIs this season.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 290/9 (Mahmudullah 80 not out, Tamim Iqbal 50) lost to Zimbabwe 291/5 in 47.3 ov (Sikandar Raza 117 not out, Regis Chakabva 102; Sikandar Raza 3-56) by five wickets