Bangladesh ease past Zimbabwe

The two minnows bade farewell to the Champions Trophy in a dead, one-sided and ultimately dull pool game in Jaipur.

On a slow wicket, Bangladeshi opener Shariar Nafees set himself to consolidate after two early wickets fell, and was rewarded with his second ODI century in the process. Saqibul Hasan and Habibul Bashar added gritty thirties into the middle order, and with the danger of collapse dispelled, Nafees was able to accelerate.

The opening batsman struck seventeen fours and a six in his innings, particularly brutal on opposing captain Prosper Utseya as he unfurled the hoik over midwicket on a regular basis on his way to an unbeaten 123.

Chasing 232, Zimbabwe never looked like getting close – and without Brendan Taylor’s fifty, they would have been embarrased. The phalanx of Bangladeshi left arm spinners, Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mehrab Hossain and Saqibul, took seven wickets at less than ten apiece as the African middle order capitulated.

Having slid to 88 for five after Taylor fell just after the halfway mark, Elton Chigumbura and Gary Brent wasted the next 15 overs, failing to find the boundary at all and allowing the run-rate to climb from challenging to impossible. When Chigumbura fell with the score on 123, the end was near and the last four wickets added just seven runs.

In short, Bangladesh have regained a modicum of pride and bragging rights over their fellow whipping boys, and the real stuff starts tomorrow as Sri Lanka and West Indies face off for the right to avoid Australia and India (oh, and England).

Bangladesh 231-6
Shahriar Nafees 123*, Saqibul Hasan 36
Edward Rainsford 2-41, Anthony Ireland 2-45

Bangladesh won by 101 runs

Zimbabwe 130
Brendan Taylor 52, Elton Chigumbura 27
Saqibul Hasan 3-18, Abdur Razzak 2-12

Cricket Web Player of the Match
Shahriar Nafees (Bangladesh) – 123 not out