Wesley Madhevere and Sikandar Raza Zimbabwe helped Zimbabwe set a 206-run target for Bangladesh in the first of the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh Saturday.

Raza remained unbeaten on 65 off 26 balls with seven fours and four sixes while Madhevere posted 67 off 46.

Earlier, Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bat first. Bangladesh bowlers were all over the place, and the fielding also did not help.

The hosts lost their first wicket with only 15 runs on the board and second when they were batting at 43.

In the third wicket stand, Madhevere and Sean Williams added 56 runs off just 37 balls. After Williams fell for 33 off 19 balls, Raza joined Madhevere and added 91 runs off 43 balls.

Left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman bagged two wickets but conceded 50 runs. Taskin Ahmed failed to grab any wicket but conceded 42 runs. Also, Shoriful Islam gave away 45 runs but could not get any wicket.

Wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan Sohan is leading Bangladesh in this series. He replaced Mahmudullah Riyad after the Tigers lost their last T20I series against the West Indies 2-0.

This is only the second time that Bangladesh are playing a T20I match without Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Riyad and Tamim Iqbal.

Tamim recently retired from T20s. Shakib is not in the team due to personal reasons; Mushfiqur and Riyad were rested for this series.

BDST: 1947 HRS, July 30, 2022
MN/SMS