Rana scalps five as Zimbabwe crumble in Harare
Bangladesh speedster Nahid Rana claimed the third five-wicket haul of his ODI career as Zimbabwe slumped to 70 for eight inside 20 overs in the opening match of the three-ODI series at the Harare Sports Club on Monday.
After Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz won the toss and elected to field, the visitors' pace attack ripped through Zimbabwe's batting, with Nahid returning outstanding figures of five for 12 from six overs.
The 23-year-old struck first by dismissing Innocent Kaia for 26 before removing Zimbabwe's talisman Sikandar Raza for just one. He then triggered a dramatic collapse, accounting for Wessly Madhevere (0), Clive Madande (2) and Brad Evans (3) to complete his third ODI five-for.
Nahid's spell included 29 dot balls -- 81 per cent of his deliveries -- and a maiden, as Zimbabwe lost four wickets for 25 runs after slipping to 45 for four.
Earlier, Taskin Ahmed set the tone with the new ball, dismissing Brian Bennett for 17 and Craig Ervine for a first-ball duck to finish with two for 25 from six overs.
Mustafizur Rahman was equally economical from the other end, conceding just 15 runs in five overs, although he went wicketless.
Bangladesh opt to bowl in Zimbabwe ODI opener
Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz won the toss and elected to bowl first in the opening ODI of the three-match series against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Monday.
The Tigers enter the match looking to bounce back from their innings-and-85-run defeat in the one-off Test.
The visitors have enjoyed a strong run in ODI cricket, winning four successive bilateral series, including a 2-1 home triumph over Australia last month, although they lost their previous ODI series in Zimbabwe 2-1 in Harare in 2022.
Playing XIs:
Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Najmul Shanto, 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Nurul Sohan (w), 6 Mosaddek Saikat, 7 Mehidy Miraz (c), 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Nahid Rana
Zimbabwe: 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Ben Curran 3 Innocent Kaia, 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Wessly Madhevere, 7 Clive Madande (w), 8 Brad Evans, 9 Richard Ngarava (c), 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Newman Nyamhuri
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