Zimbabwe defeated Bangladesh by 69 runs in the third of five one-day internationals at the Queen’s Sports Club on Friday.
After losses in the two opening games, this win put the hosts firmly back in the series, with two more matches to come today and Tuesday.
Zimbabwe, sent into bat after Bangladesh won the toss, were sent on their way to victory by Hamilton Masakadza’s maiden one-day century, with the big-hitting batsman smashing 102 off 112 balls with four fours and two sixes.
PHOTO: AFP
Elton Chigumbra (61 not out) and Brendan Taylor (94), back after a lengthy period playing in England, added a further 90 from 50 balls, with Chigumbra’s 50 coming from just 26 balls.
Zimbabwe’s total of 323 was their best against a Bangladesh side who fell well short of matching their performance.
Bangladesh, who arrived after having swept the Test and one-day series in the West Indies, were always struggling once they had slipped to 39-4 after Tamim Iqbal was out first ball, Naeem Islam was bowled by Chigumbura, Mohammad Ashraful skied to third man and skipper Shakib al Hasan made just 17.
Raqibul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim tried to rescue the situation, with the pair adding a quick-fire 68, while Mahbubul Alam lit up the innings with three successive sixes in his maiden half-century, but Zimbabwe sealed victory in the 45th over.
“We didn’t bowl well,” Shakib said. “It was a tough day for us. Hopefully, we will come back in the next game. We didn’t start well with the bat. Only 80 runs were needed in the last overs, but we didn’t have enough wickets.”
Chigumbura, who also picked up two wickets, was named man of the match.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set