Sadat hundred gives Bangladesh first blood

Bangladesh A 266 for 5 (Nazmus Sadat 111, Nafees Iqbal 54) beat Zimbabwe A 240 (Chibhabha 79, Mawoyo 70, Abdur Razzak 3-43) by 26 runs
Scorecard

Opener Nazmus Sadat scored an unbeaten 111 off 137 balls to inspire Bangladesh A to a 26-run victory over Zimbabwe A in first one-day match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Sadat shared an opening stand of 108 with Nafees Iqbal after Bangladesh had won the toss and batted.

Sadat set out his stall from the off, hammering a well-timed six through long off from Trevor Garwe's first ball of the third over while Iqbal was given a life off the same bowler by Sean Williams as backward point. Mpofu and Garwe got a hammering with both bowlers' first three overs going at more than eight runs an over.

Admire Manyumwa replaced a tiring Garwe and could have got a wicket straight away when Iqbal skied one, but Garwe at mid off appeared to have been had his vision blocked by the sun as he let the ball drop in front of him.

Iqbal reached his half-century from 68 balls before he lost his middle stump to Keegan Meth. Sadat was then put down at midwicket by Chamu Chibhabha off Manyumwa on 44. Left-arm spinner Sean Williams was the most economical bowler with 1 for 34 in ten overs while offspinner Stuart Matsikenyeri also picked up 1 for 34 from nine overs.

Needing just above five runs an over, Zimbabwe started well with openers Chibhabha and Tino Mawoyo sharing in a stand of 148. It was Chibhabha who was more aggressive, but he fell for 79 when he hit a return catch to Mehrab Hossain.

Hamilton Masakadza did not last, scoring only fours runs before falling to Farhat Reza, caught behind by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim. Mawoyo followed when he was run out for 70, and Zimbabwe continued to lose wickets while the required run-rate kept on going up.

Matsikenyeri hit two sixes and one four on his way to 25 before he fell to Saqibul Hassan, caught in the deep by Alok Kapali, and his dismissal marked the end for the home side.

The two teams meet in the second match at the same venue on Friday with the third match on Saturday, before the series moves to the Midlands city of Kwekwe.