Liton hundred propels Bangladesh to 276

Liton hundred propels Bangladesh to 276

Special Desk :    |    ১২:০৩ পিএম, ২০২১-০৭-১৭

Liton Das's 102 and useful contributions from Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, and Afif Hossain propelled Bangladesh to 276/9 in the first ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare.

Bangladesh, who were inserted into bat, began on a poor note when the tall Blessing Muzarabani got an extra lift from the surface to force Tamim Iqbal to edge one behind. Tendai Chatara, who is returning to the side from an injury, struggled a bit for control and ended up bowling extras. Muzarabani, however, continued to extract awkward bounce and snared the key scalp of Shakib Al Hasan. Incidentally, since his return from his County stint at Northamptonshire, Muzarabani has been in fine form across formats.

Chatara then made up for his rather below-par start by dismissing Mohammad Mithun. To make matter worse, Richard Ngarava induced Mossadek Hossain to chase a wide delivery and Bangladesh slid to 74 for 4. At that stage, with the tourists in a spot of bother, Liton joined hands with the experienced Mahmudullah to steady the innings to some extent. The duo mostly looked to pinch singles and twos, alongside the occasional big shot off the spinners to keep the scorecard ticking over.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe would be ruing the fact that in the 25th over the loud appeal for a caught behind against Liton was turned down. Ryan Burl was the unlucky bowler. It also has to be noted that there is no DRS in this ODI series. Liton was given another reprieve in the 35th over when the fielder at backward point put down a tough chance. Eventually, Mahmudullah fell to a slower one from Luke Jongwe.

At that fall of Mahmudullah's wicket, Liton essayed a volley of shots and reached his century in the 40th over. Ngarava soon picked up the scalp of Liton but the pair of Afif and Mehidy shared an alliance of 58 to push Bangladesh past the 250-run mark. In the 48th overs bowled by Ngarava, Afif collected a four and a six to press the accelerator pedal.

The visitors were also helped by the fact that Zimbabwe bowled as many as 18 wides. Jongwe, who picked up a couple of scalps in the penultimate over, finished with three wickets. Muzarabani, who was arguably the best bowler on the show for the home side, ended up with a two-for.