Zimbabwe could not even fight against Bangladesh in the first T20 of the five-match series. Lost by a huge margin. Starting to bat, Zimbabwe lost 7 wickets for 41 runs in the cannon of Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Saifuddin and the whirlwind of Sheikh Mahdi.
After that, Clive Mandada and Wellington Masakadja’s 75-run partnership in the eighth wicket finally gave Zimbabwe a capital of 124 runs. Bangladesh overcame the small target given by the visitors.
Anointed opener Tanjid Tamim scored fifty (67 off 47 balls). And Tawhid Hridoy scored 33 runs off 18 balls with a flurry of batting. Bangladesh won by a landslide with 28 balls and 8 wickets in hand.
At the end of the match, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raja expressed his disappointment with his spectacular batting. The Zimbabwean captain also expressed hope that they will come back in a great way in the upcoming matches.
Raja said, ‘I think it’s everyone’s responsibility. Senior cricketers have to take responsibility in their own hands, we have made a mistake. If we could do everything well, if everyone performed their duties well, then the beauty of the team would be revealed. But unfortunately today (yesterday) many have been out.’
Raja added, ‘Unfortunately none of the seniors who were relied upon did well. But we’ve learned, it’s just a match. It is not a matter of pride that we did not start the tour well. But InshAllah we will try and make a good comeback.’
Referring to the eighth-wicket pairing of Mandanda and Masakadja, Raja said, ‘They did really well. I am proud that we still managed to play aggressive cricket. Unfortunately, we let them play the role that the middle order and top order were supposed to play. We made a lot of mistakes early and in the middle order. Inshallah they will do better for Zimbabwe.’
Zimbabwe missed 3 catches in yesterday’s match. “We got floodlights at the Sporting Club in Harare (Zimbabwe’s capital city stadium),” Raja said, noting that he could not see well in floodlights. We have to practice under the lights. Need to get used to playing under lights. But unfortunately we don’t get much chance to do that.’
Raja said, ‘Unfortunately those 3 catch misses cost us a lot. (Had the catch not been missed) probably the outcome of the game could have been different. It always happens with our game. But I’m confident that once we get it back on track we can beat any team.’
