da blaze casino： In a match that bettered Saturday’s series opener for pure adrenalin,Brendan Taylor single-handedly took Zimbabwe to a 2-1 series lead inanother thriller at Harare
da roleta： The Bulletin by Jamie Alter02-Aug-2006
Scorecard andball-by-ball details
How they were out
Brendan Taylor and Blessing Mahwire celebrate a remarkable finale © AFP
In a match that bettered Saturday’s series opener for pure adrenalin,Brendan Taylor single-handedly took Zimbabwe to a 2-1 series lead inanother thriller at Harare. Faced with the daunting task of scoring 17 offthe final over of the match, Taylor smoked Mashrafe Mortaza for two sixes- the second off the final ball with five to win – to overcome the oddsand take Zimbabwe to their second fantastic win in a week. All this in amatch in which Shahadat Hossain became the first Bangladeshi to take ahat-trick in one-day cricket as Bangladesh tried to keep the late-orderrally at bay.Taylor, the only Zimbabwean to shine, took the fight back to Bangladeshwith a spirited unbeaten 79 from 72 deliveries. Partnered by theenthusiastic Tawanda Mupariwa, Taylor added a record 81 for the eighthwicket. When the run rate soared past 12 in the last four overs – the 47thover, bowled by Abdul Razzak, seemingly added the varnish on the game asthe bowler allowed just five runs – there was little stacked in Zimbabwe’sfavour.But what a final over: Mupariwa, whose career-best 33 was immense,pinched a single, Taylor smashed six off the second ball, refused a singleoff the third, watched as Kevin Barbour called a dubious wide, slammed aone-handed four high over midwicket, watched as Mupariwa was runout, and wiped his brow. The equation, in the end, came down to five offone ball. The crowd was on its feet. And Taylor simply lofted the lastball over midwicket for maximum. It was electric stuff.Zimbabwe looked down for the count, but Taylor played an impossible innings. Mupariwa, who had done little in his brief career to suggest he could contribute such valuable runs, held his nerve to give Taylor fine support. It was hard to imagine a better Zimbabwean win than in the series opener, but this was heart-pumping cricket.For the value of this effort to sink in, we must rewind to Shahadat’s moment in thematch. In the 39th over of Zimbabwe’s chase, with the hosts on 150 for 4,he rocked the boat. And how. Tafadzwa Mufambisi, on debut, nicked a widedelivery to Khaled Mashud, Elton Chigumbura departed as he played all over afull and fast delivery and was given lbw in a flash, and Prosper Usteya hunghis bat out at one outside off. One, two, three. Every Bangladeshisupporter and more erupted, the flags were flown high, and Shahadat wasjoined by his team-mates in playful celebration.
Zimbabwe fans finally had something to celebrate © AFP
The denouement apart, Zimbabwe had never really looked at easechasing 237 on a track that eased out during the day. A steady 30-runopening stand between Terry Duffin and Vusi Sibanda was snapped when Razzak trapped Sibanda leg before in the tenth over. Hamilton Masakadza chugged along to 38 before he slashed a wide delivery from Farhad Reza to backward point to give the bowler his maiden international wicket. Duffin, who had finally got a game, looked out ofdepth against this attack. He might have been preferred in place of ChamuChibhabha for stability, but his sluggishness may have done more harm thangood. His 80-ball 48 came to an end when he failed to execute a sweep and wasstumped off the part-time spin of Rajin Saleh. Saleh delivered a secondstrike when he forced Stuart Matsikenyeri to offer extra-cover thesimplest of chances, but that was nothing in comparison to what enfolded asShahadat took centre stage.Earlier, Zimbabwe’s bowlers came back from an Aftab Ahmed caning and apotential middle-order explosion to restrict Bangladesh to 236. In 49.1overs of see-saw cricket, they seized the impetus, lost it for a briefperiod but came back to wrest it and leave themselves with the lowesttarget of the five-match series thus far.Regardless of the fact that Bangladesh had lost both their openers withonly 13 on the board, Aftab tore into the bowling. Like his manic 40 off25 balls in the second match, he began with a carefree attitude, carvingthree fours to different parts of the ground in four deliveries. Two sixes- a punch over long-off and a merciless smash out of the ground overlong-on – stood out as Aftab raced to 50 off just 31 balls andswung the momentum Bangladesh’s way.
Anthony Ireland celebrates Aftab Ahmed’s wicket © AFP
It was then that Anthony Ireland struck the second definitive blow when hebreached Aftab’s defences with a crafty slow yorker. From here, Saleh andMohammad Ashraful played valuable knocks but ultimately failed to sustainthe momentum. The two added 91 in good time, but a position that couldhave been lethal for Zimbabwe was remedied by Hamilton Masakadza, whoselegspin accounted for the duo before they really cut loose. With a fiftythere for the taking, Ashraful tickled one down the leg side and BrendanTaylor held a fine catch. Having just moved past fifty with a punchthrough mid-off for four, Saleh pulled a rank full-toss from Masakadzastraight to midwicket. Ireland came back to dismiss the dangerous MohammadRafique and Mashrafe Mortaza at the death. His spell, 3 for 41, did plentyto rein in the big-hitters and could prove to be vital to the result ofthe match.Overall, Zimbabwe’s bowling was a mixed bag but it did the trick. Irelandtried too much too soon in his first match of the series, but once hefigured out that line and length was better than pace, he was a handful.Mazakadza was preferred at the death despite his inexperience in that rolebut did well to pick up career-best figures of 3 for 39.How they were outBangladesh
Shahriar Nafees c Taylor b Mahwire 0 (4 for 1)
Javed Omar c sub (Chibhabha) b Mupariwa 6 (13 for 2)
Aftab Ahmed b Ireland 53 (83 for 3)
Mohammad Ashraful c Taylor b Masakadza 46 (174 for 4)
Rajin Saleh c Utseya b Masakadza 54 (179 for 5)
Farhad Reza run out (Sibanda) 15 (195 for 6)
Mohammad Rafique c Mupariwa b Ireland 0 (198 for 7)
Mashrafe Mortaza lbw b Ireland 2 (201 for 8)
Khaled Mashud run out (Masakadza/Mahwire) 11 (224 for 9)
Shahadat Hossain st Taylor b Masakadza 1 (236 for 10)
Zimbabwe
Vusi Sibanda lbw b Razzak 14 (30 for 1)
Hamilton Masakadza c Aftan b Reza 38 (84 for 2)
Terry Duffin st Mashud b Saleh 48 (121 for 3)
Stuart Matsikenyeri c Ashraful b Saleh 7 (131 for 4)
Tafadzwa Mufambisi c Mashud b Shahadat 8 (151 for 5)
Elton Chigumbara lbw b Shahadat 0 (151 for 6)
Prosper Utseya c Mashud b Shahadat 0 (151 for 7)
Tawanda Mupariwa run out (Rafique) 33 (232 for 8)
