Burl, Jongwe star for Zimbabwe in first T20 series win over Bangladesh
Burl, Jongwe star for Zimbabwe in first T20: On Tuesday, Zimbabwe defeated Bangladesh by a score of 10 runs to win the Twenty20 international series between the two countries for the first time.
A major factor in the victory was a partnership between Ryan Burl and Luke Jongwe for the seventh wicket that scored 79 runs.
Burl and Jongwe hammered eight sixes and six fours between them off of 31 balls in the third and final match to offer the home team some hope after they had fallen to 67-6 after 13 overs early in the game.
During the penultimate round, Jongwe (54) and Burl (35), who were both looking to pound medium-pacer Hasan Mahmud over the ropes, were both eliminated from the match.
Zimbabwe completed their allotted 20 overs with a score of 156-8, and in the past tense overs at Harare Sports Club, they held Bangladesh to 146-8, which allowed them to win the series 2-1.
Last week on Saturday, Zimbabwe won by 17 runs, and then on Sunday, the tourists won by seven wickets, giving them a 2-0 lead in the series.
Golden duck
The total for Zimbabwe was reached despite the fact that their normal leading scorer, Sikandar Raza, who was born in Pakistan, was out for a golden duck.
Both Mahmud and Mehidy Hasan were outstanding for Bangladesh with the ball, ending with similar statistics of two wickets and 28 runs conceded off of four overs.
“I could not be happier with the men. On more than one occasion, we discussed the optimistic kind of cricket that we want to play. Dave Houghton, who was just hired recently to coach Zimbabwe, indicated that they would never give in on the matter.
“Precarious predicament”
“Today, we were in a precarious position, and a few of players down the order earned us a score that ended up winning the match for us.” Therefore, I am pleased with the cricket that we are currently playing and I wish that it would go on for a very long period.
Mosaddek Hossain, who was serving as the stand-in captain for Bangladesh, remarked, “Ryan Burl made the difference.” When we were batting, we lost wickets at an unsatisfactory rate. Our bowling performance was outstanding right from the start.
“Everyone is aware of how good we are at one-day internationals, and we are going into the three-match series starting on Friday feeling extremely secure in our abilities.”
Bangladesh reached 131-6 after 18 overs, leaving them needing 26 runs to win the match and the series. Because Bangladesh was always slightly under the required run rate, they were always behind the required run rate.
In the penultimate over, Zimbabwe only allowed seven runs to be scored by Bangladesh because of Victor Nyauchi, who was one of three new players on the Zimbabwe side that was trounced on Sunday.
Jongwe kept his cool with the ball in the final over, which was crucial to Zimbabwe’s victory because they needed 19 runs off of it. Afif Hossain was Bangladesh’s top scorer, finishing with an unbeaten 39 off 27 deliveries to earn the honor.
Zimbabwe has won seven of its last eight matches in the shortest format since the beginning of July. Nyauchi has taken three wickets while Brad Evans, who was another change for Zimbabwe following their second Twenty20 loss, has claimed two.
The appointment of former star Houghton coincided with a turnaround in fortunes for the team following 3-0 whitewashes at home in international Twenty20 and One-Day matches against Afghanistan.
Due to a finger injury, Bangladesh was without their skipper and wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan. This ailment has also caused him to miss the upcoming three-match One-Day International series. – AFP