Raqibul Hasan scored an unbeaten 52 off 100 balls to guide Bangladesh to a series-levelling six-wicket win in the second one-day international against Zimbabwe here on Wednesday. Raqibul, 21, hit seven fours for his fifth one-day half-century and shared 52 runs for the third wicket with Mehrab Hossain (43) as Bangladesh surpassed a modest target of 160 with 31 balls to spare.
The win helped Bangladesh level the three-match series 1-1 after Zimbabwe won the opening game by two wickets on Monday. The third and final one-dayer will be played here on Friday.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim hoisted Zimbabwe seamer Tawanda Mupariwa for a four and followed it up with a six over long-on to finish the game in style. Bangladesh were in a hole at 94-3 but Raqibul and Mehrab - brought in as a replacement for opener Junaid Siddique - repaired the damage with their sensible batting. Mehrab hit five fours in his 85-ball knock before being caught by Zimbabwe skipper Prosper Utseya at mid-wicket off veteran Raymond Price (1-20).
Man of the match Raqibul brought up his fifty with a clip off Mupariwa to deep midwicket while Shakib Al Hasan chipped in with a cameo 24-ball 22 with three fours. Sean Williams and Utseya earlier shared a valuable 96-run stand for the seventh wicket to lift their side up from a precarious 47-6 in the 19th over after being put in to bat. Williams (59) hit three fours and a six for his eighth one-day half-century before being run out by Mashrafe Mortaza who also had Utseya trapped leg-before for 38.
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Scoreboard
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Zimbabwe:
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V. Sibanda lbw b N. Hossain 7
H. Masakadza c R. Hossain b N. Hossain 17
S. Matsikenyeri run out 10
T. Taibu c M. Hossain b R. Hossain 3
S. Williams run out 59
E. Chigumbura b N. Hossain 1
M. Waller b R. Hossain 1
P. Utseya lbw b Mortaza 38
R. Price b Mortaza 7
T. Mupariwa not out 1
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Extras: (lb6, w8, nb2) 16
Total: (for 9 wickets) 160
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Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Masakadza), 2-29 (Sibanda), 3-37 (Taibu), 4-45 (Matsikenyeri), 5-46 (Chigumbura), 6-47 (Waller), 7-143 (Williams), 8-159 (Utseya), 9-160 (Price)
Bowling: Mortaza 10-1-22-2 (nb1), N. Hossain 10-1-28-3, R. Hossain 8-2-29-2 (nb1, w1), S. Hasan 10-3-24-0 (w4), Naeem 9-0-39-0 (w3), Mahmudullah 3-0-12-0
Overs: 50
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Bangladesh:
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Tamim Iqbal b Mupariwa 21
Mehrab Hossain c Utseya b Price 43
M. Ashraful c Utseya b Rainsford 5
Raqibul Hasan not out 52
Shakib Al Hasan c Taibu b Utseya 22
Mushfiqur Rahim not out 13
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Extras: (b5, w3) 8
Total: (for four wickets) 164
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