Bangladesh crushed Zimbabwe by eight wickets in the first of five one-day internationals at the Queen’s Sports Club on Sunday.
Zimbabwe, put in to bat after Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field, were restricted to 207 before Mohammad Ashraful’s third one-day century lifted the tourists to the win.
The hosts’ Mark Vermeulen scored an impressive 92 on his return after five years in the wilderness.
The left-arm spin bowling of Ray Price was in particular meat and drink to Ashraful, who continually smacked him to the boundary.
The seamers were also unable to cope as Ashraful took his one-day career total beyond 3,000 runs.
Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal shared a partnership of 137, with Bangladesh wrapping up victory with more than 15 overs to spare.
Bangladesh arrived in Zimbabwe having won the Test and one-day series in the West Indies.
The second match is today and the third on Friday.
“It was a long journey from the West Indies. We were flying for nearly two days,” skipper Shakib Al Hassan said on the eve of the game.
Bangladesh only had one warm-up game before the opening one-day international, which the tourists lost to Zimbabwe A.
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